The Heights, November 2, 2020

Boston College Casts Ballots: “An Election Like No Other”

Monday, November 2, 2020

In an election characterized by polarization and participation, many BC students are voting for the first time.

This story was written by News Editor Scott Baker; Assoc. News Editor Madeleine Romance’ Asst. News Editor Megan Kelly; Copy Editor Julia Kiersznowski; and Heights contributors Victor Stefanescu, Ethan Raye, and Amy Palmer.

With the United States just a day away from President Donald J. Trump and former Vice President Joseph R. Biden facing off in one of the most unconventional presidential elections in modern American history, the political environment at Boston College has been “tense,” according to Vice President of Climate Justice at BC Audrey Kang.

“This is going to be an election like no other,” said Kang, MCAS ’22.

Emma Foley, a member of BC’s chapter of the conservative organization Network for Enlightened Women and CSOM ’22, expressed frustration with the political polarization that has grown over the past few election cycles. Foley said that it makes cross-spectrum political discussion on campus less common, as liberal students harass conservatives, preventing any constructive dialogue.

“Left-leaning students on campus, they love to mock us, ridicule us. They call us every -ism and -phobia in the book, and many of them don’t know who we are,” Foley said. “They’ve never sat down and had a conversation with us.”

According to a Heights analysis of public data from the Federal Elections Commission, the vast majority of employees at BC who donated to a political committee gave to Biden and other Democrats.

These employees work a range of different jobs, including professors, graduate assistants, construction supervisors, and librarians.

The FEC reports all contributions from individuals who have contributed $200 or more to a political committee in an election cycle, as periodically reported to the FEC from political committees.

According to public data from the beginning of 2019 through Oct. 14, 2020—the close of books for the Pre-General FEC Report—91 contributors who reported working at BC made 258 publicly listed contributions directly to Biden’s campaign committee.

Across the same time period, four self-described BC employees made 20 contributions to Trump’s reelection committee.

Donations to Democrats as a whole show an even starker disparity—964 BC employees made more than 7,500 contributions to ActBlue, a Democratic fundraising platform. Across the same time period, 31 self-described BC employees made 84 contributions to WinRed, the Republican equivalent of ActBlue.

BC political science professor R. Shep Melnick said that American citizens often don’t communicate with those from different social or political groups. Because of diminished across-the-aisle discourse, he said, people are less informed about stances from the other side.

“I will be the first to admit that I live in a bubble where I know very few people who support Trump,” Melnick said. “Why they’re doing so remains a bit of a mystery to me, and it would be beneficial for me to have more of a civil conversation with people who support Trump so I can understand them better, but that just doesn’t happen.”

Melnick said he believes that although politics has been greatly polarized for the last two decades, Trump has exacerbated this division.

“My view is that the previous Republican presidents and Republican presidential candidates have all been pretty good people and pretty good leaders, and they’ve made some mistakes at times, but the difference in character between those previous Republicans and Trump is dramatic,” he said. “And people are responding to that.”

Annemarie Arnold, president of the anti-abortion group Boston College Students for Life and MCAS ’21, said that the general reception of conservative views varies widely.

“On the one hand, you’ve got like the vicious commenting and dialogue that happens on the internet, but on the other hand, you have some very peaceable, unified, positive communication going on,” she said.

Since the 2020 presidential election is the first that many BC students are eligible to vote in, various offices and organizations across campus, such as the Undergraduate Government of BC, have been working to encourage political participation among students.

“I think that should be the role of the student government,” said Christian Guma, UGBC president and CSOM ’21. “Everything we’ve done is not to push one side, it’s to get people engaged, and it’s to give people the opportunity to make their own choices.”

UGBC spent the months leading up to the election focusing on voter registration and civic engagement, hosting voter registration tables to inform students on how to register to vote. In recent weeks, the organization focused on informing voters about candidates by providing pamphlets with information pulled directly from each candidate’s website, according to Guma.

“I think it’s important for everybody to have a say in our democracy and in our political process,” Guma said. “I think the more voices the better, and it’s part of being an American. … We’re afforded the right to freely vote and freely express ourselves, and I think we have the chance to use it. We should.”

College Democrats of BC has been gearing up for the election by holding weekly meetings, hosting debate watches virtually and in-person, and helping students register to vote, according to one member, Colleen McBride, MCAS ’23. “[We] did have voter registration earlier this month, where people were out on the quad encouraging people to get registered and registering people who hadn’t registered yet,” McBride said.

BC College Republicans did not respond to inquiries from The Heights.

Katie Dalton, director of the Women’s Center, said that BC’s Civic Engagement Committee, of which she is a co-chair, placed an emphasis on encouraging students to vote, such as by setting up large signs across campus encouraging voting and handing out “I Voted” stickers at campus mailbox locations.

“We want to encourage and celebrate students for practicing their civic duty,” Dalton said.

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COLLEEN MARTIN / HEIGHTS EDITOR

HALFTIME HAUNT

NEW NORMS

SPORTS

NEWS

BC gave No. 1 Clemson a scare in the first two quarters, but the Tigers came back in the second half to win 34-28.

In the midst of COVID-19, BC’s student-run emergency medical care provider has taken on new responsibilities.

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INSIDE THIS ISSUE

METRO: 2021 Marathon Delayed MAGAZINE: 2020 Runners Adapt Due to COVID-19, the Boston Marathon will be postponed to at least the fall..........A5

Runners raising money for the Campus School adapted to the virtual Boston Marathon.......A5

INDEX

Vol. CI, No. 13 © 2020, The Heights, Inc. www.bcheights.com

The Heights

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Monday, November 2, 2020

Newtonites Vote Early at Newton Free Library

By Aditya Vashi Heights Staff

During the two week period of early in-person voting, 9,954 Newton residents cast their ballots. Voting was

held from Oct. 17 through Oct. 30 at the Newton Free Library in Drunker Auditorium, which was a change from the traditional location of Newton City Hall.

Newton’s City Clerk David Olson

ANEESA WERMERS / HEIGHTS STAFF

A sign stands outside of the Newton Free Library during early voting.

explained that the city moved voting to the library due to public health concerns regarding COVID-19.

“Although City Hall worked for early voting in past years, trying to do social distancing in the space was just not going to work,” Olson said. “We were pretty tightly packed in here in City Hall when we were doing early voting prior to the pandemic, and so being able to move it across the street to the library, to their auditorium, really has allowed us to make sure that we are keeping social distancing in place.”

Signs reminded voters to maintain a distance of six feet and to wear face masks. Poll workers also instructed voters on when to enter the auditorium in order to limit the number of people in the auditorium.

The public library was able to accommodate voters because activities and services at the library are currently limited. Patrons are able to browse and borrow books, as well as schedule appointments to use the computers. The

library does not allow studying, reading, and socializing at this time.

“They are not seeing the numbers of people at the library that they typically would see,” Olson said. “They are not being overwhelmed at the library at this point.”

Olson said that many residents have called the clerk’s office asking questions about the voting process. He said that the pandemic caused many residents to feel unsure about voting procedures.

“We have had to do a lot of information dissemination,” Olson said. “On a daily basis, it’s nonstop. People are calling with basic questions.”

Olson said that the clerk’s office has worked hard to keep people informed about early in-person voting and mailin voting. The clerk’s office has also increased staffing and hours in response to an increase in requests for mail-in ballots this year.

“We really have become a mailing house here in the City Clerk’s office, trying to get many ballots mailed out,

and then get them back,” Olson said.

“We have had to shift our focus.”

Newton resident Barbara Athy voted early and in person. At 82 years old, she said that her age and the convenience of the process were the reasons that she decided to vote early.

“I wasn’t sure what November 3rd would bring, so I voted early to not have to wait to the very last minute in case something came up,” Athy said. “Either I got sick or whatever, it was important for me to bolt in today, what seemed to be a good day for it. And I appreciate the city making arrangements. It’s very helpful for seniors.”

Athy said that she enjoyed her voting experience, and she welcomed the location change. She said that City Hall is a limited space, and voting at the library was an easier process.

“It was perfect,” Athy said. “And very clear. The outside gentleman told us where to go when we got inside. There were efficient people to check in with, it went very smooth.” n

Newton City Councilor Runs for Congress

By Lauren Wittenmyer Assoc. Metro Editor With Election Day only days away, Newton City Councilor Jake Auchincloss said he feels confident as his first national campaign for the Massachusetts 4th District congressional seat comes to a close on Tuesday.

“I think voters from the Massachusetts 4th will elect a Democrat to represent them in Congress who believes in putting science in the driver's seat as we respond to COVID and climate change, and who represents their values and priorities about rebuilding a more inclusive economy, fighting racial injustice, and investing in infrastructure and good jobs,” Auchincloss said.

Auchincloss won a difficult Democratic primary, coming in the top three in all cities and towns in the district, and now faces Republican nominee Julie Hall for the seat currently held by Representative Joe Kennedy.

“We knew that this was gonna be a tough campaign,” Auchincloss said. “[The] primary field was a group of very impressive candidates. And that was a lively contest. And so I was, I was proud that I was able to build a full district coalition.”

With the coronavirus pandemic picking up speed amid the Democratic primary, Auchincloss said his campaign was able to find new ways to reach voters during the uncertainty. One way the campaign was able to stay connected to voters was by hosting webinars with experts on the subject, such as local health professionals and economists.

“In times of great uncertainty and

stress, one of the most important things elected officials can do is communicate high-quality information that people can trust,” Auchincloss said.

Although many aspects of the campaign had to change in response to COVID-19, Auchincloss emphasized the many aspects that didn’t change.

“Fundamentally, it's still about trying to have as authentic of a conversation as possible with voters when you're talking about solutions instead of pointing fingers about problems,” he said.

From the onset of his campaign, Auchincloss has been an avid supporter of increased access to health care, and he said that the pandemic underscores the urgency of health care for all.

“We have an administration that wants to undercut the [Affordable Care Act] and deny people coverage for preexisting conditions at a time when COVID will be considered a preexisting condition by insurance companies,” said Auchincloss.

If elected to Congress, Auchincloss said his first priority will be increasing access to COVID-19 testing.

“There's no reason why schools shouldn't have access to the same high-quality testing as NBA players do,” Auchincloss said.

Auchincloss said he is confident his time as a Newton City Councilor has prepared him to serve as a results-oriented member of Congress who will bring people together and get things done.

“Local government is the most effective level of government in this country because it's solution oriented,” Auchincloss said. “You can only debate for so long about how you're going to build

PHOTO COURTESY OF JAKE AUCHINCLOSS FOR CONGRESS

Democratic Newton City Councilor Jake Auchincloss is running for the Massachusetts 4th District congressional seat. a road or take out the trash or build or construct the wall. Local residents and voters want results. And if you're not getting results and you’re not working well with others, they'll tell you about it in the grocery store. We need that amount of accountability and transparency at the national level.”

A self proclaimed Obama-Baker Democrat, Auchincloss has been a staunch supporter of Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker and said he would be a partner for the Governor in Washington, D.C. on COVID-19 relief and recovery, if elected.

“I think it's important that federal

and state elected officials work well together to get through this crisis,” he said.

“But I'm a pragmatic progressive. I am somebody who is committed to tackling climate change, addressing racial injustice, and protecting women's reproductive rights. And so there should be no mistake among progressive Democrats about where my values and priorities lie. They're going to find that they need somebody to amplify their voice.”

Auchincloss has received endorsements from all but three of the 24 members of the Newton City Council, with Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller putting her support behind Auchincloss

as well, according to a statement issued

by Newton officials on Oct. 16. The three councilors who did not sign the letter were councilors Julia Malakie, Bill Humphrey, and Brenda Noel. Auchincloss has also received an endorsement from The Boston Globe, former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis, and Representative Joe Kennedy.

Heading into Election Day, Auchincloss hopes voters take away a sense of unity from his campaign.

“It was about unity and constructive forward-looking politics as opposed to divisive backwards looking politics,” Auchincloss said. n

Ranked-Choice Referendum on Mass. Ballot

By Julia Remick Metro Editor The second question on the Massachusetts ballot concerns rankedchoice voting . Governor Charlie Baker said in a joint press release with Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito on Oct. 27 that he will be voting against ranked-choice voting.

Senators Elizabeth Warren, Senator Ed Markey, Attorney General Maura Healey, and Representative Ayanna Pressley have endorsed ranked-choice voting.

Ranked-choice voting involves voters ranking candidates based on their preferences, such as in first, second,

and third. This would be implemented in races with more than two candidates. Votes would then be counted in a series of rounds. If a candidate receives the majority of first-preference votes, they win the election.

If no candidate received more than 50 percent of the first-preference votes, then the candidate or candidates that received the fewest first-preference votes would be eliminated. In the next round, votes for eliminated candidates would be counted toward the next-highest ranking candidate on the voter’s ballot.

“At a time when we need to be promoting turnout and making it easier for voters to cast their ballots,

we worry that question 2 will add an additional layer of complication for both voters and election officials, while potentially delaying results and increasing the cost of elections," their statement said.

Voting yes means that the voter is in support of ranked-choice voting for primary and general elections for statewide offices, state legislative offices, federal congressional offices, and certain other offices beginning in 2022.

“The counting process alone could get unbelievably difficult,” Baker said during a press conference on Tuesday.

“I don’t want to overly complicate that process that people start to wonder

what is actually going on here. So I will vote no on that.”

Ranked-choice voting differs from Massachusetts’ current plurality system, in which the winning candidate only needs the most votes. Maine is the only state that has implemented ranked-choice voting at the state level.

Alaska will also be voting on rankedchoice voting on Election Day. The League of Women’s Voters of Newton and the League of Women’s Voters of Massachusetts have also urged voters to vote yes on rankedchoice voting.

The Ne wton President of the League of Women Voters Patricia Johnson discussed ranked-choice vot-

Voting in Newton 63,356 residents are registered to vote

Questions on 2020 Massachusetts Ballot Question 1 Asks voters about a proposed law that would require that motor vehicle owners and independent repair facilities be provided with expanded access to mechanical data related to vehicle repair and maintence.

Question 2 Asks voters about a proposed law that would implement a system of ranked-choice voting.

Voters would rank candiates in order of preference, beginning in 2022.

ing during the monthly program The League Presents on NewsTV. “Getting our officials elected by a majority of the voters is seen as really important to the league and is one of the pluses of ranked-choice voting,” President of the League of Women Voters of Massachusetts Susan Millinger said during the program.

Millinger said that opponents of ranked-choice voting argue that the ballot will look different and it will deter people from voting and delay election results.

“That will be important for organizations like the League of Women’s Voters to educate the voters in the actual process of voting,” Johnson said. n

64 percent of registered voters had already cast their ballots as of Oct. 31 41,113 early in-person voting and mail-in ballots were cast as of Oct. 31 9,954 residents voted at the Newton Free Library during the two weeks of early in-person voting 31,159 residents voted by mail as of Oct. 31 ALLYSON MOZELIAK / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Source: Offices of the Newton Mayor and City Clerk

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Monday, November 2, 2020

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Boston College Braces for Presidential Election Tomorrow Election, from A1 and a solidarity aimed to engage student organizations in the work of the forum.

“Active participation in civic life on the part of college students is important to their own growth and development but is also critically important in shaping our nation’s future,” Mogan said in an email to The Heights.

Political science professor David Hopkins said that the current polarization within the United States could lead to incredibly high turnout in the 2020 election.

“I think there’s more interest in this election, just generally in America than in most elections, and the participation rate is likely to be high,” Hopkins said. “In fact, maybe even historically high.”

Chinenye Ugocha, director of AHANA+ Leadership Council and MCAS ’21, said that she is excited about youth voter participation.

“It’s really encouraging to see more voter turnout and, more especially youth voting, because before, our age demographic is usually the one that’s been kind of left out in the polls because we don’t come out to vote,” Ugocha said.

There were many issues that BC students kept in mind while casting their ballots, including health care, climate change, abortion, and LGBTQ+ rights.

“I’m trying not to resort my mental state to just envisioning the impending doom.”

- Alexandra Katz, UGBC representative and MCAS ’23

“I think the two candidates on top of the two major tickets ... present radically different visions on both sides for where the nation should go,” said Dennis Wieboldt, a UGBC representative and MCAS ’22.

Shriya Srikanth, CSOM and MCAS ’23, said the decision of who to vote for was easy, as she agrees with Biden’s policy plans and disagrees with Trump on a moral level.

Though Foley declined to share which presidential candidate she supported, she said that she prioritized “pro-life” issues and that the presidents’ starkly contrasting stances on abortion made the choice easy.

“You have Miley Cyrus on Instagram holding a cake, celebrating abortion, and then [on the other side] you have Mother Teresa, and I’d rather be on Mother Teresa’s side anytime,” Foley said.

Alexandra Katz, a UGBC representative and Lynch ’23, said she is voting by mail and is registered in her home state of New

York. She said she will be voting for Biden primarily because she believes in harm reduction.

“I was thinking about a lot of the frankly racist statements that our president has currently made, and has made in the past,” Katz said. “... In my personal opinion, this election was choosing whichever was the lesser of two evils, and I do think that there was a very, very clear option, or a clear answer.”

For some, the names on the ticket are not necessarily the most important aspect of the election.

“I’m looking at it as not really voting for Biden—I’m voting for the cabinet,” said Christie Louis, a member of the AHANA+ Leadership Council and MCAS ’24. “I’m not voting for him necessarily, but I’m voting for the people that I hope he surrounds himself with.”

Wieboldt, who dropped his ballot off at a dropbox in his home state of New Jersey, said he considered issues related to health care, climate change, and economics when casting his ballot.

“I mean we’re all in college now. Eventually we’ll be out of college, whether or not we’ll have a job and a good-paying job when we come out,” he said. “I think voting for the candidate who you think has the better economic vision is something that will be on students’ minds, and I know it was on mine when I voted.”

James Mazareas, a graduate student and member of the Young Democratic Socialists of BC, said that he will likely reluctantly end up voting for Biden, who he sees as the lesser of two evils. Because of his disillusionment with the two parties, Mazareas said he understands people who choose not to vote at all.

“Obviously, the Trump administration has been terrible on [LGBTQ+ issues] and rolling back protections for queer and trans people,” Mazareas said. “There’s a lot of cases where Biden isn’t perfect, or not good at all, but he is sort of better than Trump. And so it’s difficult I think for a lot of people to balance those two things.”

Philip Landrigan, the director of the Global Public Health Program at BC, said that he is also voting with climate change in mind, and he is hoping for a Biden administration that reverses the Trump administration’s rollback of environmental and occupational policies.

“My great hope is that there’ll be a change

of administration, and that the new administration will pay attention to the science and work diligently to restore occupational and environmental safeguards that save lives and boost the economy,” he said.

At the debate watch parties hosted by the College Democrats of BC, McBride said that there was a general consensus among the club that environmental issues were not discussed as much as they should have been during the debates.

“There was that frustrating part of the vice presidential debate where Kamala and Mike Pence were both like, ‘Oh, we’re not going to ban fracking, we’re not going to ban fracking,’” McBride said. “And a lot of people in the club were kind of like, ‘You

“Left-leaning students on campus, they love to mock us, ridicule us.”

- Emma Foley, NEW member and CSOM ’22

know, I wish there was more progressive environmental legislation.’”

Despite this frustration, McBride said club members agreed that if Biden wins the election, there will be a change for the better regarding environmental policy.

A main goal of CJBC is for BC to divest from fossil fuels, but according to Kang, this is difficult to achieve when the president actively denies science and the need for urgent climate action.

“It’s really hard to set this example of divestment if the president finds that climate change is a hoax, [and] he has said that,” she said. “It’s really, really hard to have BC make this example if the whole political realm is like, ‘Well, climate change isn’t even real.’”

Katz said her plans for election night are to take care of herself, because whatever the results are, she’s going to be feeling a ton of emotions.

“I think that everybody should kind of try to look out for themselves in all ways that they can this week, whether that means taking a break from social media outlets, or news coverage, or taking a quick schoolwork break, or getting to bed early or something—anything like that, just to preserve mental health and sanity in any way possible,” she said.

The Office of Health Promotion will be holding in-person drop in sessions in the Health Hub in Gasson 013 from Wednesday through Friday. These sessions will allow students to gather and discuss the

MAGGIE DIPATRI / HEIGHTS EDITOR

The Civic Engagement Committee has been spreading voting information across BC. results of the election with their peers and receive support from the OHP staff members who will be present.

“In my personal opinion, this election was choosing whichever was the lesser of two evils.”

- Alexandra Katz

To cap off their efforts to increase political involvement among BC students, UGBC and the Civic Engagement Committee will pass out “I Voted” stickers on Election Day, and Guma is looking to host constructive conversations about politics after the election.

Beyond encouraging students to vote, Dalton said that the Civic Engagement Committee was working on ways to support students who are feeling stressed or anxious about the election. She explained that the committee plans to release a list on Monday of every event taking place across campus designed to assist students coping with election results.

“What we decided was the best route to go was to reach out to different departments and divisions all over campus,” Dalton said. “To pull together a list of every event that’s happening across campus, so that students can start to prepare and have a strategy for who they’re going to engage with and who they feel they can get support from.”

Katz said there is no candidate who she

believes is going to win by a landslide, because anything can happen on election night or in the ensuing weeks. “[In 2016] I was certainly not expecting the outcome that emerged. I am trying not to hedge my bets. I’m trying not to get my hopes up,” Katz said. “I’m trying not to resort my mental state to just envisioning the impending doom.”

Hopkins similarly declined to offer any predictions for what will happen on Election Day, and he warned of the consequences of the high emotions he expects to arise regardless of the outcome.

“I assume there’s going to be lots of very strong feelings when this election is over, on both sides, and the losing side is going to be very unhappy,” Hopkins said. “And that is going to take multiple forms. It could take the form of protest. It could take other forms.”

Mazareas cautioned Biden supporters against the assumption that the Democratic candidate is going to win by a landslide.

“I think everyone sort of assumes Biden’s going to win,” Mazareas said. “And I think I fell into that trap, but I think Trump could very easily pull it out and only because of voter suppression. … In a perfect world, with a free and open election, I think Biden would win, but I don’t think we can assume that’s going to happen at all, so no, I really wouldn’t be surprised if Trump won.” n

Forum on Racial Justice Hosts Anti-Racism Walk

By Amy Palmer Heights Staff Members of the Boston College community—sporting T-shirts and holding signs that read “End racism now,” each marked with the signature BC eagle—flooded the sidewalks of the main campus on Tuesday afternoon in support for racial justice.

“This is a collaborative effort,” said Chinenye Ugo cha , dire ctor of UGBC ’s AHANA+ Leadership Council and MCAS ’21. “Issues of racism, discrimination, and prejudice don’t exclusively p er tain to the AHANA+ community. They’re issues that should pertain to all members of the BC community.”

O ver 50 students , faculty, and staff gathered on O’Neill Plaza to attend “Solidarity for Racial Justice,” an e vent that featured speeches from BC community members and conversation circles, and concluded with a Solidarity Walk around the BC campus.

The event, which was hosted by the BC Forum on Racial Justice in America and the Division of Student Affairs, marked the conclusion of the forum’s series of opening events, which kicked off Oct. 7.

Associate Vice President of Student Engagement and Formation Tom Mogan said that the solidarity event was geared toward engaging student organizations into the forum’s antiracist work.

“The Solidarity for Racial Justice event was designed to provide an in-person experience to demonstrate support for racial justice and to do so in a safe and meaningful way,” Mogan said in an email to The Heights.

M o g a n e m p h a s i z e d t h e “d u a l pandemic” facing American society in his opening remarks at the event.

“We come together today in the midst of the dual pandemic that has wracked our society in the last several months—that of COVID-19 and that of racial injustice,” Mogan said. “And we come together today amidst this, for us to realize that this work is not done. Work of racial justice must continue.”

Dean of Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences Greg Kalscheur said that solidarity is a necessary component for ending racism.

“If we’re going to work for racial justice, if we’re going to end racism, we have to be attentive to what’s happening, how people are affected by what we say and do ... taking responsibility for one another, so that we can all flourish in community,” Kalscheur said. “That’s what solidarity is about.”

Milvia Sanchez, associate director of human resources at Information Technology Services, spoke about ITS’s responsibility to actively combat racism and strive toward equity for all.

“Our success comes from inclusion of a diverse workforce, which in turn provides a rich diversity of opinions and solutions to the work that we do for all of you,” Sanchez said. “Our commitment to help eliminate racism is to continue to improve our diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in our department, raise awareness on racial injustice, to keep learning because it’s important to have an open mind, and to keep the conversation going.”

Associate Vice President for Mission and Mini str y Re v. Tony Penna , S.J., said that anti-racism requires

personal changes, and he has been inspired by the community to make those changes.

“I have followed many of you on this campus as you have courageously stood up for anti-racism on this campus,” Penna said. “And I followed you and I’ve been inspired by you to do my own work.”

Ugocha urged her peers to continue to stand in active support of racial justice and inclusion.

“I invite all students and leaders on campus to challenge yourselves in vacating your comfort zone and strive to find comfort in an environment that is inclusive of all,” Ugocha said. “Be an advocate that ensures your Black and brown friends and peers feel safe and supported always, especially during challenging and stressful times. Their concerns have fallen on deaf ears.”

Students, faculty, and staff were then divided into socially distanced conversation circles and challenged to identify those on campus with privilege, those most impacted by systemic racism, and ways to promote inclusion on campus.

“In regards to BC, students of color have given [the B C community] plenty of ideas that they just simply have to follow through on,” said Sasha Severino, a member of ALC and MCAS ’21.

Following the Solidarity Walk , attendees were encouraged to fill out a commitment card, pledging one action they would take to eliminate racial injustice. These cards were posted on large boards outside O’Neill Library as a reminder that the fight for racial justice must continue at BC. “I think it’s really good hearing other people’s opinions and how they

MAGGIE DIPATRI / HEIGHTS EDITOR

BC has incorporated racial justice messages into its civic engagement initiatives. envision fighting racism, and then working together to make that come true,” said Nicole Wei, a member of BC Asian Caucus and MCAS ’23.

“In general, I would like to see more students engaged in stepping outside of their comfort zones and attending

events and discussions that focus on diversity, inclusion, and racial justice,” Mogan said in the email. “The Solidarity for Racial Justice event was one step towards asking people to commit to at least one action step to further the cause of racial justice.” n

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BCEMS Faces More Risk, Responsibility in 25th Year

By Megan Kelly Asst. News Editor As the COVID-19 pandemic tore across the United States this past year, national attention zeroed in on the plight of first responders and other frontline workers. On National First Responders Day—which honors first responders each year on Oct. 28— Boston College Emergency Medical Services celebrated the same way that they usually do: going to work.

“We never have any big parties or anything,” said Brian Coyne, BCEMS public relations coordinator and MCAS ’23. “We just, you know, go to work like we would any other day.”

But this year, going back to work looks a little different for members of BCEMS, BC’s student-run emergency medical care provider. Members returned to campus in August for BCEMS’s 25th year of ser vice to changed responsibilities, including the addition of COVID-19 testing, and other modifications to their dayto-day procedures.

“We’ve kind of become a jack of all trades,” said Brooke Barlow, BCEMS president and MCAS ’21. “We all got trained on how to perform COVID tests, and you probably saw at least some of our members when you went in for your COVID tests. And they’re still volunteering here and there in the MAC court.”

BCEMS was particularly involved during student move-in at the start of the semester, when University Health

Services administered 17,808 tests to the BC community. Around half of BCEMS members volunteered their time to help with testing, according to Coyne.

“It was a big task, and they were running these clinics around the clock,” Coyne said. “So I’m really proud of how our org ani z ation stepped up.”

In an effort to minimize COVID-19 exposure, members of B CE MS now have to wear proper personal protective equipment , including a mask and face shield, as well as limit patient contact, according to Kevin Caggiano, another BCEMS public relations coordinator and MCAS ’22. They’ve also increased the sanitization of their ambulance and the rest of their equipment, Coyne said.

“We gotta clean everything now,” Coyne said. “Ever ything that we touch, every door handle, the seats in our ambulance, every zipper on the bags, you know, everything has to be cleaned afterwards, which is a little tedious but necessary to keep everyone safe.”

Back in March, as the virus made its way across the Eastern Seaboard, Boston-area hospitals struggling with shortages of personal protective equipment turned to BCEMS for help. “ When COVID really started coming in, a lot of the hospitals were running out of N95s, different masks, face shields, a lot of stuff,” Caggiano said. “We had actual hospitals and

EMS organizations around the Boston area reaching out to us in our email, saying, ‘Hey, we’re low on, you know, N-95 respirators, do you guys have any that you could help us out with?’”

B C E MS , who no longer had a need for their own equipment after B C sent students home, decided to donate all of their remaining personal protective equipment to local hospitals, according to Barlow.

“Thankfully we were able to replace it, but yeah, at the time, it didn’t make sense for us to just keep it in a closet when people were actively exposing themselves to COVID and didn’t have it,” Barlow said.

Since returning to campus, BCEMS said that the pandemic has also resulted in an uptick in mental healthrelated calls, Barlow said.

“We’ve definitely been seeing an increase in anxiety-related calls and things like that, which we expected given, you know, living in the stresses of the pandemic and B C ’s e verf luctuating sor t of pro ce dures ,” Barlow said.

This academic year marks the 25th anniversary of BCEMS, which was established following the passing of freshman Kevin Eidt, BC ’00, from cardiac arrest on Jan. 23, 1997.

Eidt collapsed during the final seconds of an intramural basketball game at the Flynn Recreation Complex. Mark Ritchie, a certified emergency medical technician and BC ’00, who happened to be playing volleyball at an adjacent court, rushed

LEO WANG / HEIGHTS STAFF

After donating its PPE in March, BCEMS was short on equipment when school resumed. to his side and attempted to revive Eidt until paramedics arrived. Eidt was later pronounced dead at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Brighton.

This experience motivated Richie to lobby for an on-campus quick response organization. BCEMS— originally called Eagle EMS—began that following September, Barlow said. “ M a rk R i tch i e w a s l i ke , ‘ Th i s was totally pre ventable,” Barlow said. “Like if we had had some sort of organization that was able to come and provide early CPR, early defibrillation, this student might not have passed away.’”

In honor of Eidt, BCEMS designed new patches marked with his initials and added them to their uniforms this year, Coyne said.

“I think the 25th anniversary really

is to celebrate Kevin [Eidt], and not necessarily the organization itself,” Coyne said.

“We’ve come out with new patches this year that have Kevin’s initials on them, and really celebrate him and make sure he’s always remembered because our main mission is to make sure nothing like that ever happens again.”

Despite the difficulty and unpredictability this year brings, Caggiano said that he is proud of how BCEMS continues to come together in support of one another and the BC community.

“I think just really to highlight how great of a community we have here,” Caggiano said. “And then especially with everything going on, how it’s just been difficult, but you know, the community is getting us through it.” n

COVID-19 Incidence Remains Low at BC

By Scott Baker News Editor Twelve undergraduates tested positive last week out of 6,282 tests, a rate of .19 percent, according to Boston College’s COVID-19 dashboard. Four nonundergraduates also tested positive this week out of 1,685 tests.

The University re p or te d s e ven additional undergraduate cases of COVID-19 out of 1,663 undergraduate tests between the Thursday and Friday updates of the dashboard, a positivity rate of 0.42 percent.

The University ’s undergraduate positivity rate remains low in relation to the state’s positivity rate of 1.55 percent.

“The number of new cases has been increasing over the last several days, with the last four days clocking in at over 1,000 new cases per day,” Ma ssachusett s G overnor Charlie Baker said at his latest COVID-19 update press conference on Tuesday.

“Numerically, we haven’t seen cases this

15

high since May.” This past week, the Commonwealth placed the City of Boston into the highrisk category for COVID-19, which includes cities and towns that report an average of more than eight daily cases per 100,000 residents over two weeks.

Newton remains in the moderate-risk category, with between four and eight cases per 100,000 residents.

Boston reported an average of 15.8 daily cases per 100,000 residents between Oct. 11 and Oct. 24, while Newton reported 5.6 cases per 100,000 residents.

BC reported that 25 undergraduates were in isolation as of Thursday—with 14 in isolation housing and 11 isolating at home—and that 213 undergraduates had recovered.

The University reported that it had conducted 78,477 total tests, with 249 total positive cases , through Wednesday. These numbers include 56,871 undergraduate tests, with 238 undergraduate cases. n

16 Updated 10/30

ÉAMON LAUGHLIN / HEIGHTS EDITOR

UGBC Calls for Voting Holiday By grace Hewitt Heights Staff The Undergraduate Government of Boston College Student Assembly passed a resolution calling for the University to institute a voting holiday on Nov. 3, overriding a veto from Christian Guma, UGBC president and CSOM ’21.

“I vetoed the resolution because there is a process, when you do a resolution in the Student Assembly, that should be followed,” Guma told The Heights.

“It involves rigorous due diligence. …

That was not followed, at all, on this resolution.”

Th e r e s o l u t i o n c a l l e d f o r t h e University to cancel classes to allow students and faculty greater flexibility in their voting plans and to foster greater civic engagement. The resolution cited limited in-person polling locations and a complex array of statutes regarding mail-in and dropbox voting as barriers for students to vote.

Senior Associate Director of Un i v e r s i t y C o m mu n i c at i o n s E d Hayward did not respond to multiple inquiries from The Heights about BC’s response to the resolution.

The resolution was introduced at the UGBC meeting on Oct. 20 by the representatives from the Class of 2023: Dennis Wieboldt, MCAS ’22, Alexandra Katz, Lynch ’23, and Julia Spagnola and Lorenzo Leo, both MCAS ’23.

“The purpose of the resolution was a statement of policy interest on behalf of UGBC [and] the student body to say, you know what, this is something that our school administration should support because we understand the importance of civic engagement,” Wieboldt told The Heights.

Several representatives opposed the resolution at the Oct. 20 meeting, arguing that the proposal was too rushed and not likely to have an effect this year. Proponents said they hoped passing this resolution would demonstrate the importance of the issue.

“This isn’t the last year we’re going to vote,” said Sasha Wong, MCAS ’24, at the Oct. 20 meeting. “I want to

make sure that it’s something that is established, and can be continued for every voting year. I feel that it would be almost negligent to rush it just so we can meet it this year when we’re not even sure if it can be realized this year.”

“Unlike years past, I’m not going just let resolution be passed without rigorous due diligence and a process,”

“It makes UBGC look like a joke. I’m in a position now that I have to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

- Christian Guma, UGBC President and CSOM ’21

Guma told The Heights. “… I have to look out to make sure that things are followed, and make sure that it’s in the best interest of the organization and the students.”

Guma joined the SA’s meeting this week to defend his veto, criticizing both the resolution and the process through which the SA passed it.

“How do you know the students want this?” Guma asked. “Do you have data on what the students want?”

Guma continued with his criticism of the resolution, labeling this and previous resolutions as statements rather than policy.

“As somebody who’s most of his time here has been a regular student, it makes UBGC look like a joke,” Guma said. “I’m in a position now that I have to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

The SA does not have any authority over University policy, and its nonbinding resolutions on policy at BC can only urge the administration to take particular courses of action.

When Urwa Hameed, MCAS ’22, asked Guma for more information on his decision to veto the resolution, Guma said that the SA did not conduct due diligence prior to voting on the resolution.

“Prior research was not done,” Guma said. “There was no due diligence.

And realistically, there is no clear path forward.”

Wieboldt responded to Guma’s concer ns by mentioning the 15 documents of research he and the resolution’s co-sponsors put together, which included the number of potential in-state voters among BC students and faculty members. His report found that the University employs 4,216 people, all possible voters who may need allotted time to get to the polls.

Wieboldt’s research also found that nearly 2,400 undergraduate students were from Massachusetts as of 2019.

Guma responded, though, that with high levels of mail-in voting, there would be no need for a voting holiday.

“Everybody’s voting by mail. You know that everyone’s voting by mail,” he said. “That’s the truth.”

Ja ck B r a ch e r, a C l a s s o f 2 0 2 2 representative and MCAS ’22, argued against Guma’s assertion.

“I’m a Massachusetts resident who will be voting in person and also canvassing for Biden outside of my polling location in between my 9 and 1:30, so I would really appreciate having the day off to exercise my civic duty,” Bracher said.

Wieboldt said the resolution would benefit out-of-state students who are

“We don’t need research to know that the people want to vote.”

- Justin Smith, UGBC Representative and MCAS ’24

learning virtually this semester as well.

“I spoke to a student who lives in Alabama, who is learning virtually, who doesn’t know if she will be able to vote in person because she has class,” he said.

Ju s t i n S m i th , a C l a s s o f 2 0 2 4 representative and MCAS ’24, condemned Guma as insensitive to the issue of voting, reminding the SA of the centuries-long fight for the right to vote.

“We don’t need research to know that the people want to vote,” Smith said. n

A5

The Heights

Monday, November 2, 2020

Campus School Runners Adapt and Go the Distance

By Caroline King Heights Staff One hundred twenty-three years ago, John J. McDermott ran the then 24.5 miles with 14 other contenders to win the first Boston Marathon. Since then, the marathon has expanded its length to 26.2 miles and attracted people from around the world to run the course that snakes from Hopkinton, Mass. to Boylston Street. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 124th Boston Marathon was postponed in March—the Boston Athletic Association announced it would be virtual in May. Training and competing in the Boston Marathon always has its set of challenges, but three members of the Boston College community, Connor Longo, BC ’20; Carmen Martin; BC ’20, and Sarah Keffer, Lynch ’21, took on the novel task of running the first-ever virtual Boston Marathon, which they did to raise money and awareness for BC’s Campus School, which teaches students ages 3-21 who have unique learning challenges.

Carmen Martin, a doctoral student at Boston University studying occupational therapy, graduated from the Lynch School of Education and Human Development last May with a major in applied psychology and human development. Martin’s involvement with the Campus School carried her through all of four years of undergraduate studies—she was a “buddy” to the Campus School students and was a student employee at the Campus School in a middle school classroom her junior year. Martin was also chief marketing officer and a personal care assistant her senior year. On a typical training day, Martin would wake up and run at 6:30 a.m. in order to avoid other people and the heat—she also had to get to work on time for her 10:30 a.m. shift. During training and the race itself, Martin played songs from Moana, The Lion King, and Frozen to remind her of her Campus School “buddies” who she had listened to this music with. She said that listening to these songs encouraged her to keep pushing for them.

“Working at Campus School really changed the trajectory of my life,” Martin said. “Working in the classroom was so pivotal for me. … The teachers are fantastic.

They’re kind and inclusive and supportive and so helpful. I love the environment there.”

Her involvement at the Campus School

as a BC student inspired her to pursue a career as an occupational therapist, she said, which she is now working toward as a doctoral student at BU. Martin ran cross country in high school—she enjoyed running in her free time in college, but had never done a full marathon before being picked to run for the Campus School this year.

“It was really a great way to combine two of my passions, which were working for Campus School and running,” she said.

marathon going virtual, Martin said that those moments made the marathon truly meaningful and memorable.

Martin said she’s grateful to have been able to run the Boston Marathon for the Campus School.

“One thing that this year’s marathon, as well as Campus School, has taught me is that as hard as things can get, we all can do really hard things, and we are a lot stronger than we may feel or think at times,” she said.

“No human is limited.”

waiting for him at the finish line to tell them that he was not going to be able to complete the race that day due to this technical difficulty. After explaining his situation to the Boston Athletic Association, Longo got permission to use a different running app.

On Sept. 12, Longo successfully completed his fourth marathon.

“By the end, I was limping, it was so hard to finish,” said Longo. “I really don’t think I would have done it without Campus School being the motivation in the back of my head.”

ALLYSON MOZELIAK / HEIGHTS EDITOR

“It’s a really great way to give back and a really great way to raise money for this organization.”

Martin had seen her peers run in the Boston Marathon for the Campus School and said that, as early as her freshman year, she knew she wanted to do the same one day.

Two of Martin’s friends, Fallon Stewart and Casey Nicastri, both BC ’20, both expressed how impressed they are with Martin for following through with a goal she has had since freshman year. Martin said she was disappointed when the marathon went virtual, but she didn’t let it get in the way of her preparation. Though she had to adjust to new challenges, such as training with a mask on and training in the summer rather than in the winter, she knew could take them on.

Martin said she received support for running the marathon from her friends and family, as well as the Campus School. A group of loved ones were waiting for her at the finish line, and one friend even ran a mile with her, which would not have been able to happen at the traditional Boston Marathon.

Despite the initial disappointment of the

Longo, a double major in elementary education and applied psychology in Lynch, finished his undergraduate degree in 2019 and earned his master’s in moderate special needs education through a five-year program in Lynch this spring. Longo was actively involved in the Campus School as an undergraduate—he was a weekly volunteer for Creative Kids, a program that pairs Campus School students with BC student “buddies.” Every Friday, they spent an hour singing songs, playing games, and having fun.Most of the challenges for him with this year’s marathon were technological due to the virtual nature of the marathon.

The Boston Athletic Association launched the Boston Marathon Virtual Experience on Aug. 27 to help the runners stay on track and to moniter their mileage on race day.

The app crashed on Longo during one of his training runs just a few days before he was supposed to race. On Sept. 8, Longo set out to complete the 26.2 miles of the 124th Boston Marathon, but 14 miles into his run, the app crashed again.

Longo had to call his friends who were

Before this year, Longo ran the Madrid Marathon while he was studying abroad his junior year, the Newport Marathon in Rhode Island, and the Philadelphia Marathon. Longo said he has always loved the atmosphere of Marathon Monday at BC, and he got into running during his college career.

When an extra spot opened up this past February to run the 124th Boston Marathon for the Campus School, Longo jumped at the chance. His motivation behind running the marathon was always about supporting the Campus School, Longo said, but when the marathon shifted to being virtual, the Campus School became even more of the driving force for him through the unforeseen challenges.

“Thinking about the Campus School, that is really what got me through,” he said.

Longo was excited to support Campus School by running this year’s virtual Boston Marathon, he said—but he still hopes to someday run the traditional Boston Marathon.

“It definitely felt like I ran a marathon, but it doesn’t really feel like I ran the Boston

Marathon after that,” Longo said. “It is still a goal of mine now.”

Despite the unusual circumstances, Longo is proud to have done the marathon for the Campus School.

Keffer, currently double majoring in elementary education and political science, started volunteering at the Campus School her freshman year as a member of the Special Events Committee. Her sophomore year, she was treasurer of the Campus School e-board and was also a “buddy” to a preschool Campus School student. Now, as a senior, Keffer is co-president of the volunteers at the Campus School, alongside Megan Phillips, MCAS ’21. This year’s Boston Marathon was Keffer’s first marathon.

On her day to run the marathon, Sept. 12, Keffer woke up to find her entire common room decorated with stopwatch designs made by her roommates. They had also decorated a finish line for Keffer and cheered for her alongside her family and the family of Keffer’s Campus School buddy.

They all greeted Keffer at the finish line after a little over five hours of running—Keffer and her family were even able to have a small, socially distanced meal to celebrate her completion of the marathon.

“I really never dreamed of doing a marathon until the idea to do it for the Campus School came up,” Keffer said. “Running is always something I did for fun. It’s a relaxing thing for me, but I don’t think I would have done it if it wasn’t for the Campus School.”

In high school, Keffer ran track as a short distance runner. She was also on the club running team her freshman and sophomore years at BC, but she had never run more than six miles before training to run this year’s Boston Marathon.

Her motivation for running was her buddy at the Campus School. She also noted the mental strength she gained from hours of training, during which she learned lessons about herself along the way. “[In] training, you really learn that you can push yourself to the limit a lot faster than you would think you can,” she said.

Keffer looks back on the marathon and describes the experience as motivating.

“I have so much more of an appreciation for what your body can do,” she said, “and so much more of an appreciation for how our students [at the Campus School] defy challenges every day.” n

Boston Marathon Delayed to at Least Fall 2021

By Julia Remick Metro Editor

The Boston Athletic Association announced on Wednesday that the 125th Boston Marathon will be postponed until at least the fall of 2021. Boston College will now hold a regular class schedule on Patriots’ Day, which falls on April 19 this year, while classes are normally canceled on the holiday due to the marathon.

Vice Provost for Faculties Billy Soo said in an email to The Heights that if the marathon is held in the fall, it is very likely that BC will have to suspend classes on that day.

“The fall semester academic calendar will probably not be finalized until next spring and will depend on the course of the virus and the availability of vaccines,” Soo said.

Boston Athletic Association CEO Tom Grilk said in a statement said that by postponing until the fall, the Boston Athletic Association can adjust the in-person experience for both runners and supporters.

“Prioritizing the safety of participants, volunteers, spectators, and community members, we continue to assess all elements of the race including a potential reduced field size or weekend date,” Grilk said.

Grilk said that road races are prohibited until phase four of the Massachusetts reopening plan. The City of Boston is currently in phase three, step one of the reopening process. Communities deemed to be lower risk moved to phase three, step two of the reopening plan earlier this month.

The BAA has not yet selected an official date for the 2021 race. The BAA’s

COVID-19 Medical & Event Operations Advisory group, which was formed on Sept. 3, will work with local, city, and state officials to determine if a fall 2021 race is feasible.

“We are optimistic that the Boston Marathon will continue its tradition of celebrating the spirit of community and athletic excellence next fall,” Grilk said in the statement. “We know there will be many questions and we will look to address them in the coming months ahead.”

The BAA’s statement said that it will be forthcoming with information about when registration will open and the field size, pending local regulations and the event plan.

The 2020 Boston Marathon, originally set to take place on April 20 and rescheduled for September, was postponed in

March and officially canceled by Boston Mayor Marty Walsh in May. This was the first time the event has been canceled in its 124-year history. The race was replaced by a 10-day virtual event from Sept. 7 to Sept. 14.

Kyle Donahue, MCAS ’22, was registered to run the 2020 marathon and was planning to run in the 2021 marathon.

“It’s one of those things where as upset as I am, it’s absolutely the right decision,” Donahue said. “I can sacrifice running if it’s going to mean people’s safety and people’s health. So I’m upset as a runner, but as a person who lives in Boston, postponing is the right move.”

Donahue began training for the 2020 marathon in January of last year by running around 80 miles per week. He estimated that he has spent over 1,000 hours training.

“Whenever the marathon is coming, I’ll be ready for it and just excited to run down Comm. Ave. and hear everyone cheering,” Donahue said.

Carmen Martin, BC ’20, ran the virtual marathon in September in support of the BC Campus School.

“Despite the circumstances, people still were able to come together and cheer one another on, and it still felt very special, even though it wasn’t the traditional marathon,” Martin said.

Martin is still considering whether she will participate in the potential 2021 marathon.

“I think it’s disappointing that two years in a row an event that has so much meaning to Boston is being postponed. So hopefully, this fall things will come together a little more nicely,” Martin said. n

New Caffe Nero Location Comes to Newtonville

By Francesca Giangiulio Heights Staff

Newtonville has now become the best place around Boston College to get a cup of coffee, with Starbucks; Dunkin’; George Howell Coffee; and now Caffè Nero, which opened its newest location in late August, standing within a quarter mile of each other.

Caffè Nero’s strong brews, extensive menu, proximity to campus, and substantial amount of seating make it a great location for weekend study grinds, especially since many other nearby options are so often full due to capacity restrictions.

“George Howell is almost always full, and Starbucks isn’t always my cup of tea— sorry for the pun,” said local resident Bryan Barash. “I love all the outdoor and indoor seating. Caffè Nero is fantastic.”

Another patron said that Caffè Nero offers a better atmosphere for getting work done.

“I like George Howell and tend to go in there when I’m looking for a better coffee drink,” said Newton resident Chuck Tanowitz. “Still, it’s not a place where I spend

a couple of hours on a laptop.”

The Caffè Nero in Newtonville follows the theme of the company’s other locations with its earth-toned color scheme and cozy-yet-industrial interior. High ceilings, exposed pipes, hanging Edison bulbs, floorto-ceiling bookshelves, and ample space filled with mismatched tables and seating contribute to the homey feeling of the café.

Many of the café’s customers are young adults and college-aged students looking for a place to do work. Patrons can sit indoors at one of the many wood-grain tables or curl up by the fireplace in a luxurious, overstuffed armchair. There is also plenty of outdoor seating with covered tables for when the weather is nice.

Caffè Nero also features an espresso-heavy menu in pursuit of its mission to create traditional Italian cafés across the world. It strives to be a “place that would serve very high quality coffee and serve as a neighborhood meeting spots,” according to the company’s website. In addition to traditional drinks, such as cappuccinos and cortados, Caffè Nero also serves smoothies, frappes, cider, hot chocolate, and a wide array of food options.

Caffè Nero’s all-day breakfast menu includes egg sandwiches, frittatas, parfaits, and baked goods that range from croissants and muffins to macarons and biscotti. Caffè Nero also serves a variety of sandwiches, soups, and salads for lunch, and, to finish it all off, fresh-baked Italian desserts such as cannolis, tiramisu, and mascarpone cake.

The café also offers many dairy- and nut-free items as well as vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options for those with dietary restrictions.

The coffee chain first came to Boston in 2014 and has since opened over 30 locations in the Boston area, including three in nearby Brookline.

The Newtonville location opened quietly on Aug. 24, with the company making only two short Facebook posts on Aug. 22 and Aug. 24 announcing that free coffee would be offered from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the shop’s opening day. The store-front is currently half-finished, so the opening of Caffè Nero could have easily been missed if you weren’t a local resident walking by each day.

The addition of Caffè Nero to the Newton coffee scene is sure to bring some

competition to the other shops nearby, who are already facing the challenges of the pandemic. Twenty-three percent of restaurants in Massachusetts have not reopened since March 1, the president of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association told The Boston Globe in September.

The café is located at 28 Austin St., Newton and is open Monday to Friday 6:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. and on weekends from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Caffè Nero also offers free WiFi for those who want to visit in person, and is available on Doordash and Uber Eats for delivery. n

FRANCESCA GIANGIULIO / FOR THE HEIGHTS

Customers drink coffee and eat pastries inside of Caffe Nero in Newtonville.

The Heights

A6

Monday, November 2, 2020

EDITORIAL

Common 2020 Election Questions Answered: How to Vote, Find Reliable News This Week The upcoming election will be different from any other election in recent history. It is unclear whether the country will know who won the election on the night of Nov. 3. In anticipation of the upcoming week, The Heights would like to point readers to reliable sources of information, answer questions about the election, and clear up common misconceptions.

Tuesday is Election Day. How can I vote?

This depends on a few things: your state, your registration, and if you will vote in person or by mail. If you are registered in Massachusetts, you can check your exact polling location on the Massachusetts Secretary of State website. If you live on campus or directly adjacent to Boston College, your polling location is likely Ward Elementary School on 10 Dolphin Rd., Newton Centre, Mass., 02459, which is a five- to 10-minute walk from Bapst Library. But polling locations are determined by your address’ ward, so even someone who lives right next to campus may have a different polling location.

Bring a photo ID with you. If you are voting for the first time in a federal election in Massachusetts or are an infrequent voter, you’ll need to bring proof of Massachusetts residency as well. A Massachusetts-issued ID, such as a driver’s license, is sufficient.

If you do not have one, you can also use other printed identification that has both your Massachusetts address and your name on it, such as a recent utility bill, any mail addressed to you, your rent statement, or your lease.

Polling locations in Massachusetts are required to be open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m., but some will open as early as 5:45 a.m. Go early, if possible—but as long as you are in line by 8 p.m., you will be allowed to vote.

If you are voting by mail and are registered in Massachusetts, complete your ballot exactly as directed by the instructions and send it in as soon as possible. For Massachusetts, ballots must be postmarked by Nov. 3 and arrive by Nov. 6 in order to be counted. It is also possible for you to hand in your ballot in person at Newton City Hall (or your local election office) dropbox if you do so no later than 8 p.m. on Nov. 3.

If you’re voting in person or by mail outside of Massachusetts, please see USA. gov, an official government website with information about voting and how to vote.

For mail-in ballots, deadlines vary by state, but for most states, ballots must be received

by Election Day. You can visit vote.org for

state-specific information on absentee ballot deadlines.

Where can I go to determine whether a candidate has won the election?

I am voting by mail, and I live at or near Boston College. Where can I mail my completed absentee ballot? Do I need a stamp?

You can rely on the AP to correctly and accurately report election results and to call elections when appropriate. The organization has reported election results for 120 years and in 2016 was 99.8 percent accurate in calling all U.S. races, according to Voice of America. The AP does not call a race until the trailing candidate has no path to victory.

Because of this approach, it does not project winners but instead only calls races when they are sure that a candidate has won a race.

There are several USPS drop boxes on or near campus. One is on the corner of Comm.

Ave. and College Road, another is by White Mountain, one is in front of Carney, and another is by the front entrance of Bapst.

You can also mail your ballot at the UPS Store near El Pelón or at the USPS post office in McElroy. Additionally, there is a USPS office about a mile away from campus at 12 Middlesex Rd, Chestnut Hill, Mass., 02467.

If you are mailing a Massachusetts ballot, you do not need a stamp, as postage is prepaid. If you are returning a ballot to another state, you generally need a stamp, unless your state has also prepaid your postage, which you can check here. If in doubt, use a stamp. USPS will not reject ballots just because they have insufficient postage, but nonetheless you should absolutely use a stamp unless your state has already pre-paid your postage.

Is there a difference between mail-in and absentee ballots?

The two terms are interchangeable, and simply refer to ballots that are mailed to voters.

Is there a danger of fraud with mailin ballots? Do they favor one party over another?

There is no evidence that mail-in voting leads to widespread fraud, or that mail-in ballots substantially benefit one party over another, according to the Brookings Institution. People have voted by mail in America since the Civil War. The president himself voted by mail this year.

How do news outlets get election results?

According to Voice of America, the Associated Press (AP), a nonprofit news organization, sends out thousands of reporters across the country. Those reporters get direct numbers from county clerks and local officials. Tallies are also pulled from state websites. All of this data is sent to a data entry center, which is virtual this year.

As data comes in, news organizations, which have access to the data, will have enough information to call some elections, based on mathematical models that allow them to determine which way a state will swing before all of its votes are counted.

How are voting results officially counted? Who counts them?

Ballots are collected and tallied by a local county board of elections. That board reports the results to its state’s secretary of state. After Election Day, states make an official canvas, which is the final vote count.

The official canvas is used by the state’s electors, who meet and officially cast their votes. The Electoral College’s votes are sent to Congress, where they are carried from the Senate to the House by Senate pages and officially counted in the House, with both House and Senate members in attendance.

NBC News has a guide that shows the process, which you can check out here.

What happens if the president contests the election results?

No one really knows. This has never happened before. There are a lot of potential scenarios, many hinging upon what exactly the president does or does not do. The Atlantic has an interesting piece that outlines numerous different possibilities.

The “end” of an election is usually considered to be when one candidate concedes to the other. But the U.S. Constitution does not mandate peaceful transfer of power because it presupposes it, legal scholar Lawrence Douglas wrote in a book published earlier this year.

Electors for the Electoral College have to be appointed by Dec. 8, which for all intents and purposes means that a state has to be sure of its vote tally by then if it intends for its electors to vote in a way that reflects its population’s wishes. Since the 19th century, electors have voted consistently with how their state votes—with minor deviations in 2016—but it is not a legal necessity for them to do so. In theory, if there is doubt sown about the validity of the election results, electors could decide to vote in a way not consistent with their state’s vote.

A group of Heights editors who are committed to participating in the consistent writing of editorials comprise the editorial board. Editors who report on topics discussed in editorials are not permitted to participate in the discussion or writing of the editorial.

Members: Colleen Martin, Abby Hunt, Maddie Haddix, Brooke Kaiserman, Meegan Minahan, Jillian Ran, Danny Flynn, and Rachel Phelan.

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Clarifications / Corrections The Heights strives to provide its readers with complete, accurate, and balanced information. If you believe we have made a reporting error, have information that requires a clarification or correction, or questions about The Heights’ standards and practices, you may contact Colleen Martin, Editor-in-Chief, at (617) 552-2223, or email eic@ bcheights.com.

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The Heights

Monday, November 2, 2020

A7

Tales From a Remote Freshman show to the club fair. Game shows and trivia are fantastic ways to get to know one another, plus those who were in the top three got upscale prizes including Apple AirPods.

What more could you ask for?

Aside from the Weeks of Welcome, classes have been a new and exciting experience across the board. Although I do believe I’ve truly missed the feeling of being

Rita Pennacchio-Harrington As Boston College’s Weeks of Welcome approached,

in a real classroom, in general, students are very kind and eager to meet others, even over Zoom.

My professors have done a magnificent job in

I recalled all the traditional activities that have been

formulating activities to allow students such as myself to

enjoyed by generations of BC students before me—from

interact with each other, whether they’re one dorm away

movie night on the lawn to the scavenger hunt with

or 30 minutes away from one another.

friends, and most importantly, Convocation.

Even though I’ve not been able to participate in

Even though I have missed having physical interaction with others, various courses—from calculus labs to

some of the in-person activities that make up the typical

English discussions—have assisted in filling that void. In

“freshman experience,” being a remote freshman at BC

my calculus lab, I’ve worked with three other students

has actually been pretty great.

and we have had deep, meaningful conversations

Now you may be asking, has “Boston College provid-

through our analysis of various functions. In English, we

ed you with any alternatives?” I feel that BC has done a

are placed into breakout rooms where we discuss our

phenomenal job at welcoming all students, both those

background and other topics that we’d discuss during a

who are on campus and those who are staying at home.

normal freshman fall.

In my case, I was able to participate in a majority of BC’s Weeks of Welcome events, from a virtual game

From discussion-based English classes to the Ecology

passionate these professors are about the subject they teach and their students’ well-being during such unprecedented times.

I have begun to notice how no matter whether their students are remote or in person, they are eager to answer their questions through office hours— whether through Zoom or in front of Merkert Center.

As I learn more about my professors, I am so honored to be taught by such educated people who are true leaders in their fields. The deep interest they have in the subjects they teach is evident in their detailed lectures, from discussing modes of selection to the cathode ray experiment.

I have learned, so far, that the key to having the college experience that you desire is through time management, planning, and engaging in deep and meaningful conversation with your professors about your academic interests — just like with the cathode ray experiment.

Rita Pennacchio-Harrington is an op-ed columnist for The Heights. She can be reached at rita.pennacchio-harrington@bcheights.com.

and Evolution Zoom reviews, I have realized just how

BC’s Reliance on Adjuncts is Exploitative

Doug Girardot Prior to arriving at Boston College, I had taken Spanish classes for eight years of my life. It was my favorite subject, and I was driven to be good at it precisely because of how much I enjoyed it. That all changed once I took a Spanish class here my freshman year.

Most of the reasons that I grew disenamored with the study of the language were because of my professor’s employment status. The instructor was an adjunct, and because of that, he was desperately limited in his ability to tailor the class to his own teaching style.

A cookie-cutter syllabus, designed by a department administrator who never once interacted with us, determined what we learned in the classroom and how. The vibrant excitement of a living language was soon reduced to stale, vacuous textbook exercises. I haven’t taken a Spanish class since.

This type of situation is unfortunately quite common at BC and at universities across the United States. If you’ve been to college at any point in the last century, chances are that you’ve been taught by an adjunct faculty member even if you didn’t know it.

An adjunct professor undergoes the same grueling process of researching, writing, and teaching to attain their doctoral degree as any other professor. But unlike “regular” tenure-track faculty, adjuncts are not offered a contract to teach for long periods of time, instead getting paid on a semester-by-semester basis. And if that lack of job security wasn’t enough, adjuncts earn a miniscule fraction of their tenure-track colleagues’ pay. In short, they are “professors in the gig economy,” as the title of a recent collection of essays on the topic puts it.

The reasons to scrutinize the University’s dependence on adjuncts are many. There are pragmatic reasons: For those considering graduate school, it’s imperative to understand the job situations that the majority of Ph.D.s have to contend with. But much more broadly, if BC were to seek to understand how it got stuck in the mire of contingent faculty—and how it can remove itself going forward—it would necessarily be required to do some Ignatian soul-searching to better discern its raison d’être. That would only stand to benefit our academic community.

In his book The Adjunct Underclass, author Herb Childress, who himself was once an adjunct, posits that one of the key reasons that colleges across the country are swirling with rootless adjuncts is because higher-ed institutions don’t have any idea what their main reason for existence is. Is it to prepare students for careers? To form them into decent human beings? To run top-tier athletics programs? To expand their real estate presence?

Voting!

We cannot stress this enough: Please vote! Your voice matters, and this may be one of the most important elections in our lifetime. If you’re voting in person on Election Day in Massachusetts, polls open anywhere from 5:45 am to 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m.

In trying to answer all of these questions and more, funding for teaching is often the first to go, according to an anonymous administrator quoted in Childress’ book.

BC epitomizes such an existential crisis. In the last few years alone, the University has constructed a superfluously expensive field house (ringing in at $52.6 million) for the football team, bought out a small liberal arts college, and childishly squabbled with the City of Newton over its supposed right to decimate Webster Woods.

In the process, the University has more than ever lost sight of its mission: to educate its students and, as a corollary, to provide instructors with dignified opportunities to share their knowledge with the next generation of learners.

Instead, those at the top of the BC pyramid have found it more palatable to balance the books by hiring cheap labor to carry out that most unsavory task of higher education: teaching. (The numbers vary year to year, but for the last few years, a little more than half of all instructors have been adjuncts.)

To quantify the issue of adjunctification, I made my way to the labyrinthine realm of the BC Fact Book—a deceptively pretty document that in reality is the Siren-like offspring of a polished Adobe InDesign file and a jumbled Excel spreadsheet that has something to hide. To my dismay, however, I discovered that the Fact Book contains almost no information about adjuncts, and what little there is can only be interpreted by going through a gauntlet of multiplying and dividing. Luckily, Billy Soo, the vice provost for faculties, amiably helped me sift through these numbers and fill in the gaps.

The results of BC’s aimlessness are striking, evidenced most easily by pay discrepancies. According to Soo, tenure-track faculty are slated to make, at minimum, around $114,600 this academic year, while the highest-ranking tenured professors will earn nearly $190,900, not even including fringe benefits.

In contrast, adjunct faculty members will make at most around $7,500 per course, according to Soo—and that’s only if an instructor has taught more than 20 courses previously at BC. Adjunct professors must also teach 20 courses over the course of five years before they’re eligible for health insurance, by the way.

So if an entry-level tenure-track professor and a seasoned adjunct professor both teach the normal course load of four classes this year, the adjunct will make a measly 26 percent of what the tenure-track professor makes. Even when granting that adjunct professors don’t necessarily have as many administrative obligations as their tenure-track counterparts, it’s still difficult to view this difference as a pay gap so much as a pay chasm.

I began the investigation into these numbers two years ago when I was a reporter, not a columnist, for The Heights. The benefit of sharing this information in the form of a column rather than a news article is that I can say, without penalty: These numbers are insane. They are insulting. They are exploitative.

Some may object to my criticisms, citing that it is

nothing more than the free market doing its job. The problem with this assertion is that it assumes universities are businesses just like any other, whose goal is to maximize economic efficiency. This notion is patently misguided. The aim of a university should be to educate students, full stop—revenues be damned.

Ninety-four percent of adjuncts are teaching one or two classes this term, according to Soo. But it’s not as though adjunct professors necessarily have stable careers and are merely supplementing their incomes by teaching a class or two on the side. Many of my own professors have had to depart right after class so they had enough time to commute to another teaching job around Boston.

To combat such a mammoth problem, there are two main action steps to be taken, neither of them pleasant but both of them necessary.

First, BC needs to critically examine its budget. If the University is running such a tight ship that nearly 50 percent of faculty members in the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences are on short-term contracts, then it’s time to reappraise just how necessary a new integrated science institute is, or indeed how much—sigh—neurotically trimmed grass and pristine landscaping meaningfully contributes to the college experience. The money from these vanity projects would be better spent on giving existing faculty a better reward for their dedicated work.

Secondly, the University needs to lead the way among colleges across the country by dramatically cutting back on the number of Ph.D.s it bestows. From a scholarly perspective, this is unequivocally a lamentable proposal. But only by capping the number of spots in its doctoral programs can BC begin to help stem the torrent of Ph.D.s flooding out into an academic environment that is unable to sufficiently appreciate their intellects.

In all of this discussion, it’s important to highlight that BC is far from being an outlier in its extreme over-reliance on external part-time faculty. But BC is relatively unique in its self-promotion as a Jesuit, Catholic institution of higher learning. Our University has set for itself a higher standard than other colleges: to act ethically and in accord with Catholic social teaching, even when everybody else is swimming in the opposite direction.

The reality, though, is that for many years BC has failed its adjunct faculty members. In its obsession with conforming to other leading universities, it has forgotten exactly those qualities that are supposed to make it stand out from the rest.

The answer to the adjunct question requires the administration to answer a simple question: Will the University act for the greater glory of God, or the greater glory of economic growth?

Doug Girardot is an op-ed columnist for The Heights. He can be reached at doug.girardot@ bcheights.com.

The opinions and commentaries of the op-ed columnists appearing on this page represent the views of the authors of those particular pieces, and not necessarily the views of The Heights.

‘I Voted’ Stickers The coolest accessory for fall 2020 is an ‘I Voted’ sticker.

Critics rave that the sticker was all anyone could talk about during (virtual) New York Fashion Week. CNN put together a cool collection of photos of the stickers from all 50 states. Best sticker award probably goes to North Dakota.

The state’s sticker was designed by a fourth grader who won a state-wide contest.

Voter Supression Voter suppression has unfortunately always been a part of American elections.

Voters of color, particularly Black and Hispanic voters, have long been locked out of voting at a substantially higher rate than their white, non-Hispanic neighbors. This isn’t just a past phenomenon—it happens now.

Voter ID laws and automatic voter purges disproportionately affect Black and Hispanic voters. The hardship doesn’t stop there: According to The Atlantic, these voters have harder times finding a polling location and getting time off of work to vote. Voters of color also report alarmingly high occurrences of being harassed at the polls.

Not Voting Out of Protest or ‘Moral High Ground’ Please vote. The moral high ground is null if the real-life consequences of not voting could have profoundly devastating effects on minorities, women, and LGBTQ+ people.

The Heights

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Monday, November 2, 2020

Workout Workarounds: Fitness During COVID-19

By Caroline Quinn Heights Staff Last spring, with the rise of COVID-19 came the shutdown of virtually everything.

Students were trapped in their homes with nothing to do but Zoom online classes and give in to the never-ending temptation of the kitchen pantry. To make matters worse, gyms and fitness studios closed down, leaving people with one less way to let off steam. Now back on campus, students are figuring out the best ways to get in their workout with the current restrictions in place.

While stuck at home, those craving a workout quickly learned that their only solution was to get creative. Supplies such as workout mats, resistance bands and dumbbells make at-home workouts more versatile.

“During the stricter quarantine, I would do a lot of at-home virtual workouts, including YouTube videos, Zoom yoga sculpt, or run around my neighborhood,” Jennie Verhey, MCAS ’23, said.

Whether students took walks or jogs

around their neighborhood or had an athome gym, they learned how to keep their health and fitness in check without the usual resources at their disposal.

“My family went on lots of hikes once the weather got nice, and I would go for walks with my friends,” Katie Duttenhofer, MCAS ’23, said.

Popular studios also adapted and created at-home programs. Barry’s Bootcamp, for example, created a virtual red room program where people could tune in from home and do a live class. Many also took advantage of social media to advertise their programs. Chloe Ting’s two-week ab workout went viral on TikTok, and other fitness programs and challenges gave people something to do in their never-ending spare time.

“Sometimes I would work out more than once a day just because I had nothing else to do once classes ended last spring,” Duttenhofer said.

YouTube’s endless supply of workout videos also came in handy. With a wide variety of workout lengths and types, switching up one’s workouts was simple:

One day it could be a high-intensity interval workout, and the next it could be a quick 15-minute yoga and stretch.

The Margot Connell Recreation Center has understandably implemented stricter conditions this semester, now requiring appointments to enter. Those who do utilize the gym must schedule their appointment before it reaches the 150-person capacity and plan their workouts to fit within the allotted 90-minute period. Many have chosen to bring their at-home regimens to campus, choosing to run around the Reservoir, or watch videos in their dorm.

“I never ran before March, and now I run the Res everyday, so I definitely think that was a positive habit that came out of quarantine and is so convenient to do here,” Verhey said.

The freshmen on Newton Campus have had a hard time going to the gym after the school decided not to open up the Quonset Hut, the recreation center on Newton.

“Having no gym on Newton Campus is definitely a challenge, and having to take the shuttle to main campus or lower is very annoying,” Ryan Coughlin, CSOM ’24, said.

MAGGIE DIPATRI / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Students who workout out at the Rec Center must reserve their space ahead of time.

It’s clear that students have adapted in many ways to the new realities of COVID-19, and they have learned how to keep their life balanced in creative and effective ways. As the year unfolds, it’s becoming apparent that things aren’t

going back to normal anytime soon. With the rec center practicing social distancing regulations, and outdoor workout classes having to adapt to the colder weather, BC students have shown that they aren’t afraid to get creative about their fitness routine. n

Students Navigate Social Life While Social Distancing

By Sofia Fauza Heights Staff After being in isolation for so long in March and April, the idea of seeing people for the first time seemed more exciting than ever before. I remember the first time my best friends from home and I were in the car together, and it was hands down the best drive of my life—even though we literally

just went to get sandwiches from our town’s deli. Quarantine has certainly glorified time spent with friends that was once taken for granted. Being back on a college campus has reminded many of us how difficult it is to have a social life compared to previous years. So, how have people even been hanging out?

There is no doubt that BC’s guest policy has made going off campus a lot more ap-

MAGGIE DIPATRI / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Students have been taking advantage of the nice weather while they can.

pealing. The “BC bubble” has been popped as students are more eager than ever to explore the city. Outdoor restaurants by the Boston Seaport, such as Cisco Brewers, are some of the most popular destinations.

It’s a good excuse to dress up, take plenty of pictures, and enjoy food that isn’t BC Dining. The North End is right up there as well—who can resist homemade pasta and cannolis for dessert? My personal favorites are Mother Anna’s for dinner and Modern Pastry (similar to Mike’s Pastry) for dessert.

Boston has also been a great platform for students to get creative and come up with more spontaneous activities than going out to a restaurant. Setting up a picnic with friends in areas like the Boston Common and the Charles River Esplanade is a great way to take advantage of the city without having to spend much money.

Students have also been finding aesthetically pleasing streets randomly dispersed throughout Boston to have photoshoots on or just walk around. Acorn Street and its surrounding area in Beacon Hill is gorgeous—go there if you want to feel like you’re the main character in a movie that takes place in New England.

“The weekends are about having to

get more creative,” Cooper Griggs, CSOM ’23, said.

Griggs and his friends went bridge jumping one weekend, and he explained how they would not have been able to think of doing that last year with no restrictions.

As autumn starts to come around, so have fall-themed activities such as apple picking and pumpkin carving. Everyone’s favorite coffee drinks are also rising in the ranks. Some students love venturing off campus to their favorite coffee shop, while others have been crafting coffee on their own. I could talk about cute coffee shops all day—I definitely recommend Cafe Landwer for local brunch, Tatte if you’re looking to spend time in the city, and Caffe Nero as a peaceful homework destination. Whipping up something fancy in your Walsh eightman kitchenette is another activity I’ve seen going on, especially the charcuterie boards on game days. Coming from a sophomore in traditional housing, it looks quite fun (in the least passive aggressive way possible).

Speaking of things to do on campus, students have grown to enjoy smaller gatherings in their suites and dorms as they respect BC’s guest policy. Obviously, they are looking forward to when they are

able to hangout in large gatherings, but they’ve been able to make seeing smaller groups more exciting by adding a theme to them. Why not have everyone in your suite throw on a colorful wig or a fancy dress and set the scene like it’s pre-COVID times, just with fewer people? Look at the silver lining—you will grow a lot closer to your friends this way.

Spending time with friends outside on campus has been one of my favorite things to do. The tables right outside Lower are always buzzing with people doing work, eating and talking, or just relaxing. If there are two trees close enough to each other, the likelihood of seeing someone in a colorful hammock is pretty high. The lawns are also dotted with BC-themed picnic blankets.

People have even brought their new quarantine hobbies to campus—students are seen roller-blading and skateboarding around.

Students have found creative ways to hang out safely in the midst of COVID-19, but are definitely eager to go back to the tailgates they know and love. The creativity these COVID-19 social challenges have prompted and students’ eagerness to be more adventurous off campus are bound to continue when “normal life” returns. n

Weekly Market at Lower Offers Fresh, Healthy Options

By Caroline Quinn Heights Staff

The smell of fresh-baked bread and the sight of colorful produce is just enough to draw students out of their dorms and onto Corcoran Plaza to explore the weekly farmers’ market.

Every fall Friday leading up to Thanksgiving, the usually quiet area is transformed into a bustling

market equipped with a variety of fresh produce and baked goods.

The market was started in 2009 by Derrick Cripps, the former general manager of BC Dining. His idea was to bring more options for fresh, healthy food to campus. Originally focused on produce, the market has expanded and now offers a variety of cheeses, breads, and dried goods that students can conveniently buy

PHOTO COURTESY OF BC DINING

Each Friday, students gather to check out a BC Dining-sponsored farmers market.

with money from their meal plan.

“I’ve gotten avocados, tomatoes, apples, and carrots. As for baked goods, I bought a large loaf of bread and a blueberry loaf,” Catherine Stenberg, Lynch ’23, said.

The goods come from all over and there’s enough variety for everyone to find something they like. Goat cheese from Vermont, Pete and Gerry’s Organic Eggs from New Hampshire, and fruit from local Massachusetts farms like Ward’s Berry farm cover the tables. The market partners with a local distributor who brings in all the locally grown produce. They even have pumpkins, gourds, and other seasonal items to make your dorm a little more festive.

“We’ve heard from students who shop at the market that they have tried new local foods like delicata squash and romanesco cauliflower,” Julianne Stelmaszyk, BC’s sustainability and food systems manager, said.

Many students enjoy picking up their fruits and vegetables for the week at the market. They know it’s always fresh, and it’s more convenient to walk to Lower than it is to go all the way to Star Market or Wegmans. Upperclassmen who have kitchens and kitchenettes in their dorms can even find ways to use the fruits and vegetables to make delicious meals of their own.

Garden Salads, avocado toast, and charcuterie

PHOTO COURTESY OF BC DINING

The market sells pumpkins, gourds, and more to use as fall decoration. boards are all possibilities thanks to the market.

“I love the market,” Stenberg said. “Going to the grocery store is sometimes a hassle, but the market is an easy and resourceful way to get food. It’s also a great way to support a local farm and company.”

COVID-19 has not hindered the market— it’s actually done quite the opposite. According to Stelmaszyk, it has allowed it to expand.

Now, the market is entirely outside, giving more space to sell their goods. It is also open

rain or shine and has longer hours. They have been able to hire more student interns to help out, and Stelmaszyk assures they have taken the necessary safety precautions to make sure students are not at risk.

Students have taken advantage of the market and made sure to stock up on all the fresh, delicious produce. Having access to fresh produce right on campus is not only convenient, but also a nice way to spice up both your diet and your Friday afternoon. n

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‘Black at BC’ Exhibit Seeks to Amplify Student Voices

By Jillian Ran Arts Editor In the wake of the racial justice protests that erupted over the summer, the libraries at Boston College have ad-

ambitious and visible project yet has been a simultaneous exhibit across all the libraries—the first of its kind—of posts from the Instagram account @blackatbostoncollege.

The @blackatbostoncollege account

ANEESA WERMERS / HEIGHTS STAFF

The simultaenous exhibit throughout the libraries ran from September through October.

dressed the current climate in a variety of ways. They have clarified now ubiquitous phrases like “defund the police” and created virtual book displays on racial inequality. But by far their most

shares anonymous stories from Black students and alumni describing their experiences with racism at BC. The account’s Instagram bio states that it is “a space to uplift and share the voices,

stories, and struggles of Black community members” of BC. When the BC Libraries found out about the account, they set out to amplify these stories further, Associate University Librarian for Public Services Scott Britton said.

“A group of us at the libraries that had been working on equity, diversity, and inclusion issues for the libraries got together and said, ‘This is important.

We want to do something to help the students. We want to do something with this Instagram account, the information in there, beyond just reposting or agreeing with the posts,’” Britton said.

The libraries messaged the administrators of the account through Instagram to gain permission to put on an exhibit. While the administrators were not directly involved in planning the exhibit, they approved each aspect of it, including which posts were selected to be included in the exhibit, according to Britton.

The result is the display of around 130 posts across all the libraries—including O’Neill Library, Bapst Library, and the BC Law Library. The exhibit ran from September through October.

The administrators of the @blackatbostoncollege account did not respond to an interview request from The Heights. An FAQ on the account’s profile states that two current Black students at BC run the account, but The Heights has been unable to confirm the identity of the account administrators.

Rodrigo Castro, head librarian for access services, emphasized that the purpose of the exhibit is to simply communicate the stories of the original posts, not to use them as an educational tool.

“As a minority, one of the most stressful situations is that minorities or the experiences of minorities are used to teach dominant culture about equity, diversity and inclusion,” Castro said.

“And when that happens, as a minority you feel singled out, you feel tokenized.

We wanted to convey what those posts convey, without any kind of mediation.”

While planning for the exhibit, the library staff also faced the question of whether to fact check the anonymous stories. They ultimately decided that it would not be right to question the honesty of the submissions. When posts mentioned names or described people

who are easily identifiable, the libraries opted to redact those parts.

“One role of the libraries is to represent viewpoints that are unfiltered,” Britton said. “If you think of it almost as a primary document, an original source, that’s the kind of information we often like to present and have people draw their own conclusions.”

In keeping with the libraries’ goal of maintaining the original form of the posts as faithfully as possible, the posts look very similar to their online counterparts, with simple backgrounds of black, yellow, and orange.

Still, there is a difference between seeing the posts on a phone or computer screen and encountering them in person, Castro said. Social media is ephemeral, so there is value in recreating the posts in a more tangible and permanent way.

When asked what he hopes students take away from the exhibit, Castro mentioned the immediacy of racism at BC. “When we talk about racial injustice, it’s not something that happens somewhere else, but also here in your own spaces, in your own institution,” Castro said. n

Band Encourages School Spirit With Virtual Variety Show

By Nathan Rhind

Asst. Arts Editor

What do the Boston College head football coach, conductor of the Boston Pops, and lead singer of the Dropkick Murphys have in common? They have

between band members. Then, in July, the group shifted to interactive sectional meetings via Zoom to prepare students for what the preseason band camp would look like during a pandemic.

At the end of August, virtual band camp was held, and according to Healey,

MAGGIE DIPATRI / HEIGHTS EDITOR

The ShowTime! variety shows combine interviews, comedic skits, and short performances.

all been featured in the BC marching band’s ShowTime! variety shows, which are released every other Saturday. In the absence of typical game days, these variety shows have provided much-needed entertainment for the student body. The Screaming Eagles have shown that, with hard work and innovation, school spirit is possible—even if it’s from behind a computer screen instead of behind the endzone.

The road to creating these virtual shows, however, was not easy. It required cooperation, enthusiasm, and flexibility from the entire band community. According to BC marching band director David Healey, the group immediately began planning for how to approach the summer and fall once the University announced its shutdown due to COVID-19 in March.

Starting in April, student leaders held weekly Zoom meetings to provide a support system and maintain bonds

it looked remarkably different from years past. Instead of meeting all together, band students recorded their instrumental parts individually and submitted them to their section leaders. Healey was then able to compile these recordings into a polished digital version of the band’s traditional repertoire. Although he missed the in-person interaction and community, he also spoke to the silver lining of the challenges posed by the pandemic.

“It’s amazing, actually, that disruption fosters this kind of innovation,” he said.

“We hadn’t had, hadn’t really been required, to look at that microscopic level of what we’re actually producing—what the students are producing.”

This technological prowess came in handy for their performances as well. For the Pops Off the Heights virtual concert, the BC marching band and University Chorale coordinated a recording of BC’s beloved fight song, “For Boston.” The group also partnered with dance team

AEROdynamiK for a virtual recording of “ON” by Korean boy band BTS. Yet the marching band’s most innovative achievement this year remains the ShowTime! variety shows that are wholly student-produced, -edited, and -written.

Band members also double as actors, chefs, and talk show hosts. For perhaps the first time in BC marching band history, the student body has the chance to meet the people and personalities behind the football game fanfare. Mellophone section leader Kathryn Kelleher, MCAS ’21, discussed her and her friends’ memorable reenvisioning of the iconic Flutie Pass on their new virtual platform.

The Flutie Pass, also called the Miracle in Miami, was a Hail Mary play where the BC quarterback launched a throw downfield to wide receiver Gerard Whelan to win the game over the Miami Hurricanes. Kelleher and co. recreated this memorable scene by imaging roommates who dream of making the Flutie Pass. Aptly called the Miracle in Jammies, a pun of the original event, the skit features Kelleher and her fellow band members doing their best Flutie Pass impressions around campus.

In addition to providing a creative outlet for band members, as Kelleher discussed, trumpet section leader James Sixkiller, MCAS ’22, emphasized the goal of the variety shows. They hope the shows offer a refuge of normalcy in these upending and turbulent times.

Sixkiller also noted how Healey continually emphasizes the importance of community to the band and how he envisions the group as a family. Coming from Louisiana, Sixkiller noted how Healey helped him adapt to a new environment and adjust to life on campus.

Specifically, Sixkiller cited the tea times Healey held individually with students as opportunities to reflect on and openly discuss the highs and lows of their BC

experiences.

“And [the tea times were] super, super valuable to me, especially freshman year, when I was adapting to everything,” Sixkiller said. “I think it’s just his personality in being a friend and being someone who genuinely cares.”

Indeed, Healey’s care for his students is perhaps more vital than ever. At the time of the interview, because BC had not yet announced its Thanksgiving plans, Healey ensured students that they would have a place to celebrate and share a meal together.

This was not just a heartfelt gesture, but a sincere invitation. Sixkiller said that Healey has repeatedly invited him over for Thanksgiving. Sixkiller said he greatly appreciated the sentiment as it is often difficult to go all the way to Louisiana over the short holiday break.

“That’s his personality and I think that’s really rare to find,” Sixkiller said.

“And it’s only amplified by him being the director of so many kids from all over the place with so many backgrounds.”

There is a mutual respect and understanding between Healey and the band members that comes across not only in the students’ words, but in his own.

Healey praised students for overcoming adversity and remaining committed to the program.

“Well, they’re incredibly flexible,” Healey said. “One of our main mantras in the band is ‘be flexible and adapt to change.’ And that’s been tested this year, I think, to a greater extent than any previous year.”

Healey, Kelleher, and Sixkiller all agreed that this challenging process has allowed them to explore some innovative techniques that they will employ in the future—whether it be filming variety shows or recording individual student performances to hone the band’s sound.

Nevertheless, Healey admitted that

what he misses the most about normalcy are the countless memories made on game day. Specifically, he is anxious to get back out on the football field where the band can show passion, commitment, and school pride. For Healey and the band, football games are an opportunity to make alumni and spectators proud of the BC community.

“You go in and you’re expecting to see a football game, but you come back with the impression that this is a real strong sense of community and it’s student-driven,” he said. “And there’s just this authenticity to the experience that is truly reflective of Boston College.”

For Kelleher, a memory that stands out was the band’s trip to the Pinstripe Bowl in 2017. Despite the freezing temperatures, Kelleher enjoyed her first bowl game experience and having the opportunity to perform in Yankee Stadium. The trip also included an overnight stay in New York City, where the band members were able to develop connections and spend meaningful time together, Kelleher said.

And for Sixkiller, a special tradition that stands out is the group’s pregame ritual. Prior to running out on the field, the band members link arms, form a circle, and sing “Amazing Grace.” Sixkiller notes that it is an emotionally vulnerable moment and one that exemplifies the tight-knit community of the Screaming Eagles.

All in all, the students have exhibited an unwavering commitment to the band according to Healey. It is their perseverance and mutual supportiveness in the face of adversity that has made the community so special to Kelleher, Sixkiller, and Healey.

“I am constantly impressed with the students,” Healey said. “I think they’re amazing. And their resilience is inspiring to everybody on our staff.” n

Landwehr: Mourning the Loss of the Concert Experience

By Julia Landwehr Heights Staff

Last December—the 10th to be exact—my friend Gabby and I took the B line to Paradise Rock Club in Boston to see singer Omar Apollo. The show was everything you’d expect from a good concert—a crammed floor with dozens of sweaty people screaming the lyrics to every song, fervently inching closer to the stage to try to get a better view. After the show, we grabbed a late dinner at Raising Cane’s before heading back to campus. I walked to my dorm in the cold December rain, ears ringing. I was so happy.

Fast forward to Oct. 22, 2020. Gabby comes over, crochet gear in hand (she’s working on a scarf). I grab my knitting needles, plug in my laptop to the small living room TV, and pull up the link that we paid $18 to access.

Our favorite band, Hippo Campus, was doing a series of virtual livestream concerts—no substitute for the real thing of course, but the idea of seeing a concert again after 10 long months seemed worth it.

The stream starts, broadcasted from First Avenue in Minneapolis, while Gabby and I watch on the couch. We chit-chat about how the band members have changed (“Zach looks like an e-boy!”) and what we hope they might play in the set.

We sing along to each song softly while my roommates study for a midterm in the other room. And, just like that, it’s over.

The virtual concert was only about 35 minutes long, and I was left wanting more.

What I thought would satisfy my concert itch only made it grow more intense.

Though Hippo Campus’ attempt at a virtual concert was a fun Thursday night distraction (I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was looking forward to it all week), there was something eerie about seeing a band play its set in an empty venue to no one but a camera. Even more so than a rebroadcast of an old concert you might stumble across while channel surfing or a video of a live performance you might find somewhere on YouTube, the virtual concert felt strangely hollow.

The band didn’t address the virtual crowd (no “Hello to everyone listening at home!”), and the videography, often

showing close-up shots of each of the band members, was unlike any point of view you’d ever have during a real concert.

And yet, you had to buy a ticket for these “Dream Streams,” and you could even buy merch. I was left with this strange feeling that I simultaneously was and wasn’t watching a live performance.

And yet, even though the inadequacy of the virtual concert made me miss live concerts all the more, I’m so grateful for it. As someone who’s probably a bit too obsessed with music, concerts have been one of my main sources of entertainment during my time at Boston College. Not having the opportunity to see my favorite bands (sometimes over and over again) has been something that’s felt like a monumental loss during this pandemic.

Even though I was curled up on my couch instead of jumping around, hands in the air, I still got to see Hippo Campus perform. Even though it felt strange, I was still able to hang out with Gabby and reminisce about some of our favorite concert experiences (“Do you remember seeing Still Woozy and Omar Apollo at Fine Line?”). Even though it isn’t what it used to

be, maybe it’s the best we can do for now.

So until the world opens back up again and we get to see our favorite musicians in action, the virtual show is one of what will be many creative attempts to heal the concert-shaped holes in our hearts. It’s incredibly disappointing but strangely hopeful. It’s an ode both to the pain and disconnect that so aptly defines 2020, but also the shining moments of the past and the hope that one

day, we can experience it all again.

After talking for another 20 minutes, Gabby goes home. I put my knitting needles up on my closet shelf, and I spot my concert earplugs. I’m not really sure why I brought them to school this year. I had to know deep down that there’d be no in-person concerts for the foreseeable future, but I brought them anyway. And I can’t wait to use them again.

GRAPHIC BY ALLYSON MOZELIAK / HEIGHTS EDITOR

The Heights

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Monday, November 2, 2020

Anticlimactic ‘Rogue City’ Fails to Surprise

By Alicia Kang Heights Staff Netflix’s latest action film, Rogue City, comes from French director Olivier Marchal. Centered on Richard Vronski (Lannick Gautry), a police officer working to diminish and control gang violence in Marseille, France, the movie employs the typical style of American action films. Most of the scenes entail double-crossing, incessant shootouts, and hushed conversations at bars. Then, of course, the stoic policemen go home to their wives and are humanized for a few moments before killing other random characters in the next scenes.

There are a lot of reasons why Rogue

City is simply ineffective, but the foremost one is the lack of enticing dialogue.

Vronski has an entire team of loyal cops, yet the movie refuses to flesh out these side characters. Max Beaumont (Kaaris) has about two witty lines in the film, and Zach Damato (David Belle) seems to have even fewer. Willy Kapellian (Stanislas Merhar) is given some more backstory: Viewers see his wife and children in a few brief clips. But the film tries its hardest to sell us on Vronski’s steady virtues in a world with constantly changing loyalties.

Unfortunately for Vronski, the movie would actually succeed if it showed viewers a closer relationship between Vronski and his team members. Some humorous

FILM

‘ROGUE CITY’ OLIVIER MARCHAL DISTRIBUTED BY NETFLIX RELEASE OCT. 30, 2020 OUR RATING

PHOTO COURTESY OF NETFLIX

quips and inside jokes between the characters would actually make audiences feel connected to these characters’ personalities. But Rogue City takes itself too seriously, inhibiting the film from employing this technique, a downfall that leads to the movie mixing in a flurry of “bad guy” names and characters that are simply onerous for audiences to keep track of when watching.

Jean Reno’s role as Ange Leonetti, the new police chief in town, seems to be a major selling point of the fim. Reno’s fans may watch the film expecting a masterful performance, but Rogue City hardly gives him the time. Reno has few scenes and even fewer lines. While the film may be trying to depict him as a removed mastermind, Reno is absent from the screen far too often to be developed into anything significant.

Rogue City also suffers from the problem of oversaturation: In place of witty dialogue, in every other scene, someone threatens to kill someone’s family or have an affair with someone else’s wife.

Around halfway through the film, these lines lose their impact. Viewers grow desensitized to the threats and even to the gore depicted, so that it feels less and less like there is anything at stake.

The only positive aspect of the film is its pacing. Rogue City is not a slow film that builds up over time—it’s quick and

instinctive. The tradeoff with this benefit, however, is that the movie shuffles in new characters and tosses out old ones based on whatever fits the plot in the current moment. Again, this technique makes audiences unable to connect with characters or truly care about the movie’s plot.

As the film goes on, it tries to complicate its protagonist, Vronski, so that viewers question whether or not this is the man they should be rooting for in the film. While this would work if audiences felt connected to Vronski, nothing makes him particularly likable or any different from the dozens of other tough, hardened cops in the millions of other action films a viewer could watch.

It seems as if, while filming it, Marchal was simply trying to fill a quota of shootout scenes for this genre. To top it all off, Rogue City shines neither in its cinematography nor in its music score.

Lacking the elements that bring films to life, Rogue City contains no surprises.

Though Rogue City has some new characters, in the end, it’s essentially a film everyone has watched before, one where viewers already know how it will end. For viewers who enjoy films with gratuitous violence and action, Rogue City might be worth the watch, but even for these audiences, the two hours are not worth the inconsequential plot and lackluster character development. n

Grande’s ‘Positions’ Is Disappointingly Static

By Shannon Carmichael Heights Staff Ariana Grande graciously attempted to choose treats over tricks this past Friday, picking the day before Halloween as the release date for her latest album, Positions.

The album comes as a made-in-quarantine surprise to Grande’s fanbase. Its release was not heavily marketed and was first announced through an all-lowercase tweet by Grande on Oct. 14. Besides the nonchalant nature of Positions’ drop, the album serves as a mid-semester treat and potential new source to spruce up old Halloweekend playlists.

The album’s quick release following its original announcement hints at the rushed nature of the album itself. Positions can be described as blunt and boring: 14 songs with little substance that make for the perfect background music. The pre-released single, “positions,” foreshadows how the rest of the album sounds. The songs become hard to distinguish from each other as you listen through, largely due to the overwhelmingly similar nature of all of the pieces that come together to form the album itself. One song slowly blurs into the next, until 41 minutes have passed and listeners realize that it wasn’t just one song they were listening to, but 14 different ones.

Besides the absence of sound diversity, Positions is missing the essential element of Grande’s past successful albums—drama.

Grande is notorious for publicizing her private life in a way that makes her music more about the extension of gossip than the actual music. Her 2018 album Sweetener was heavily sold by her public relationship with Pete Davidson, who gave a face to the boy described so fondly in her lyrics.

Her follow up 2019 album thank u, next was a candid response to their breakup, again public, which magnetized people from outside Grande’s fan base to listen to her perspective on their heartbreak. But with the privatization of celebrity life during quarantine, there’s no greater motivation to listen to Positions, leaving the album solely reliant on its musicality, which unfortunately is disappointing.

The weak musicality of the album is largely due to its lack of lyrical substance.

Grande chooses to be blunt in her lyrics, leaving nothing left to the imagination for listeners to discover the underlying meaning of her words. And that’s fine, not all songs have to be a riddle to unwind or a poem with elegant wordings of common experiences.

But the lack of lyrical substance is not made up for by an emphasis on the musical strength of the songs themselves. It’s difficult to point to key songs on the album that will become the next hit single because they’re all similar to one another. Ultimately, the lack of substance leaves Positions’ songs diluted and powerless.

Looking beyond the simplicity of the album, Positions does subtly introduce an

aspect of musicality not tackled by Grande in previous years. In songs like “shut up,” “six thirty,” and “pov,” Grande toys with string and horn instruments to bring an orchestral feel to her songs. However, the introduction of such instruments doesn’t stand out and exists more as an additive to the songs themselves. “My hair” has a jazz tone to it which complements Grande’s voice—a strength that is not highlighted enough on the album.

Ariana Grande’s voice is one of the most iconic of her generation of artists, however Positions downplays her expansive range to focus more on curating a specific vibe than showcasing her talent. Her sound on this album parallels artists like H.E.R. Both

singers tone down their versatile voices during the verses and then amplify them in the chorus. This demonstrates that their music isn’t so much about vocals as it is about creating an aesthetic.

Positions sadly falls short of a Halloween treat. If Grande’s range had been displayed more and there was greater versatility in the sound of each song, the album would be more successful. Love, lust, and heartbreak are all intriguing topics for an album that unfortunately were not given the attention they deserve. The weakness of Positions ultimately raises the question of Grande’s next move. Her natural talent enables her to choose any direction, though the decision is up to her. n

MUSIC

For The Heights Impending climate doom. The struggle of Zoom conference calls. Questionable coronavirus cures. Comedian Sarah Cooper’s debut Netflix special Everything’s Fine hits all the hot topics—it even riffs on the mysterious murder hornets during a parody depicting a morning talk show struggling to survive in 2020. But the 49-minute special, which came out on Thursday and was directed by Natasha Lyonne, hits too close to home. The heavy humor doesn’t distract or relieve the audience from these trying times.

Trading belly laughs for knowing groans and anxious head-scratching, viewers will not find much comedic relief when watching this show.

Playing a desperately cheery morning show host, Cooper reports on events

that are all too familiar. The special jumps around between news updates from Cooper, short sketches with special guests, and absurd COVID-19-related advertisements. In one advertisement, a supposed medical professional (Jon Hamm) endorses a pillow that cures the virus when you rest your head on it at night. Scattered throughout the whole show are clips of Cooper lip-synching to sound-bytes of President Donald Trump discussing the coronavirus and harping on himself. In one segment, Cooper struts across a golf course, using exaggerated gestures and facial expressions to mock the president.

Cooper began her career in comedy doing stand-up around New York as she was working at Google. After quitting her job and struggling to find work as a comedian for years, Cooper finally found success when her Trump lip-syncing

‘POSITIONS’ ARIANA GRANDE DISTRIBUTED BY REPUBLIC RECORDS RELEASE OCT. 30, 2020 OUR RATING

PHOTO COURTESY OF REPUBLIC RECORDS

TELEVISION

EVERYTHING’S FINE SARAH COOPER DISTRIBUTED BY NETFLIX RELEASE OCT. 27, 2020 OUR RATING

PHOTO COURTESY OF NETFLIX

videos went viral at the beginning of the pandemic. In videos uploaded to her YouTube channel and TikTok account, the comedian expressively lip-syncs to the president’s most unclear and bizarre statements. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Cooper explained that amid the boredom of quarantine, she was intentionally trying to create viral content.

Mocking the production of early morning talk shows, the special features brightly colored sets, tacky green screen use, and garish fonts that contrast with the weighty comedic material Cooper deals with. Cooper leans into the excessively enthusiastic host character in one sketch as she attempts to learn how to twerk from one of her guests, Megan Thee Stallion.

Initially these details might elicit a laugh, but the sketches drag on and the incessant enthusiasm of the host becomes tiring to watch.

The show mainly depends on its litany of celebrity cameos. Jane Lynch plays a classic Karen in a cooking segment on Cooper’s show. Maya Rudolph appears as a manic meteorologist. Winona Ryder is a retired and crazed talk show host who incessantly asks what’s happened in the country during the years she’s been gone.

But these celebrity cameos don’t save the special. In one cringe-worthy sketch, Cooper plays a magician attempting to perform card games for an audience seated in their cars and socially distanced in a parking lot. The premise of the sketches may seem humorous, but they drag on and the jokes fall flat.

LILY TELEGDY

‘HOLD ON’ H.E.R.

“Hold On” is the latest song released by R&B and hip-hop artist H.E.R. (Having Everything Revealed).

The singer performed the ballad while starring as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live this past weekend. Her soulful voice and guitar skills shined as she debuted her two latest songs, “Hold On” and “Damage.”

H.E.R’s most recent singles should excite fans pining for more music from the artist, as the two songs highlight the range and technique that H.E.R is capable of delivering, and will likely appear on the artist’s upcoming debut album. The live performance also reminded fans of H.E.R’s raw talent as the simple stage setup, minimal outfits, and limited production put the spotlight on her vocals and lyrics. H.E.R. also showed off her guitar skills during the performance, demonstrating her versatility.

“Hold On” sticks to the artist’s R&B roots and builds upon her past successes while being featured on hip-hop songs alongside rappers YG and Pop Smoke. Her latest songs prove that H.E.R can stand alone as a singer and an artist. n

MUSIC VIDEO JULIA LANDWEHR

‘GOLDEN’ HARRY STYLES

‘Everything’s Fine’ Induces Existential Dread

By Katherine Canniff

SINGLE REVIEW

The special, however, does contain some important political messages that are cleverly highlighted with humor.

Whoopi Goldberg narrates a segment about the history of Karens. An infomercial host (Aubrey Plaza) sells Indoctrination Porcelain Dolls targeted toward online conspiracy theorists. One satirical segment depicts the president reacting to Cooper’s talk show on his Twitter, and before Cooper transitions to the next skit, she deadpans, “More on these tweets as they continue to suck the life out of our democracy.”

As the show nears the end, the morning show and host Cooper begin to unravel. Her obnoxious executive producers (Marcella Arguello and Eddie Pepitone) watch as Cooper smiles her way through endless news updates and manufactured pleasantry, repeating through her perfect news anchor pearly whites that “everything’s fine.” But when she remembers how all the days seemed to blend together in quarantine, Cooper descends into madness.

Seeing all these recent and ongoing disasters shoved into one special is almost overwhelming. In contrast to memes and TikToks that provide small doses of parody on today’s most pressing problems, Cooper tries to summarize the events of this past year in a lengthy special and fails to entertain. Everything’s Fine may be a show to return to in 10 years, when we can hopefully laugh at Cooper’s satirical special and the tragic ridiculousness of 2020. n

The long-awaited Harry Styles “Golden” music video arrived on Oct. 26—and it was well worth the wait.

The video features Styles swimming, driving, dancing, and running in an Italian coastal city, high-waisted pants and lace gloves to boot. For anyone who might be feeling a bit stir-crazy from months of quarantine, “Golden” is an escapist’s fantasy that follows Styles as he beckons the camera to run along the picturesque rocky coastline with him.

“Golden,” the first track on Styles’ 2019 album Fine Line, radiates a warm embrace of harmonies and pulsing hihat cymbals that draw in the listener.

The video’s vintage-esque yellow filter and stunning Italian location play off the themes of the sunny-sounding song as well.

Styles acts goofy, sticking out his tongue and laying on the hood of a car.

He spends most of the video staring directly into the camera, bringing the audience into this fantastical vacation world. The music video’s aesthetic mirrors Styles’ own interpretation of the song.

“It’s like driving down the coast is what the song is for,” Styles said in an interview with Zane Lowe. “It feels so Malibu to me.”

Directors Ben and Gabe Turner, in creating this European getaway for Styles’ audience, make the “Golden” music video feel like an invitation back into Styles’ Fine Line world—a world where you treat people with kindness and hang out under a canyon moon.

So if you’re like me—and your semester in Rome is now a semester in Chestnut Hill—or if you’re just bored of the same four walls of your bedroom, “Golden” is a beautiful 3.5-minute break from the reality of COVID-19. It immerses its audience into a dream where Harry Styles can run down the middle of the street, wear a yellow fisherman’s hat on a rocky shore, and strut his stuff in a teal suit coat—all without wearing a mask. n

The Heights

Monday, November 2, 2020

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Scoreless Second Half Crushes Eagles’ Hopes for Upset Comeback from A12 game just 43 yards shy of the all-time ACC record for career rushing yards. By racking up 84 yards on the ground and 140 through the air, Etienne did more than enough to write his name atop the record books.

“You see that guy take over games, so we were going to do everything we could to stop the back,” Hafley said of Etienne in his postgame press conference. “I had it on my call sheet written down: ‘Stop number nine.’”

The Eagles made every effort to do so. As Clemson knocked on the door once again in the first quarter, Etienne fumbled a handoff from Uiagalelei, and Brandon Sebastian was right there to scoop it up.

With 100 yards of green space in front of him, Sebastian dashed for the end zone, no Tigers in sight. His scoopand-score went for 97 yards, putting the

Eagles up 21-7.

BC’s final score of the game came in the most improbable fashion. With about a minute left in the first half, the Eagles faced 4th-and-2, and they lined up appearing to set up a field goal try.

But just before the snap, a receiver split out wide to the right, and John Tessitore went under center to call out the hard count.

With it, Clemson jumped offsides, giving BC a fresh set of downs and the chance to go for the end zone.

Tessitore’s father Joe, BC ’93, was calling the game from the broadcast booth and got to announce his son’s name as the catalyst for a game-changing play.

One play later, Jurkovec took a shot to the end zone, and Lewis, draped with a Clemson defender, showed elite concentration to haul in the tip-drill touchdown.

Though BC put up more points

against Clemson in the first half than any team has scored total on the Tigers all season, the stats don’t reflect the team’s success. Jurkovec threw for just 204 yards on 12-of-24 passing, and the Eagles’ run game only mustered up 67 total yards.

Even so, on the heels of four firsthalf scores, BC went into the locker room ahead.

Clemson notched a field goal as time wound down, cutting the lead from 18 to 15 heading into halftime. But the field goal, Hafley said, is a testament to his team’s persistence.

“Any time we can stop an offense with that firepower and hold them to a field goal, I think it gives momentum,” Hafley said. “And we had it going into the locker room.”

Even so, Clemson came out firing and mounted a furious second-half comeback.

The Tigers not only notched three

touchdowns and a safety in the second half, but they held the Eagles scoreless.

Clemson earned its first lead of the game with 11:34 left to play on a 17-yard rush from Etienne. His second score of the day put the Tigers up 32-28.

Down by four, BC once again displayed its defensive persistence with the game on the line late in the fourth quarter. With two minutes on the clock, the Eagles’ defense held on 3rd-and-1, forcing a three-and-out and a punt from Clemson.

Until that point, Clemson had converted 100 percent of its 3rd-and-1 tries this year. The stop kept BC in the game for a brief moment, giving it hope for a two-minute drill-style victory.

“The way our players fought at the end. ... Our guys never quit,” Hafley said.

But Will Spiers’ punt pinned the Eagles on their own 4-yard line to start the drive. With Jurkovec throwing from his own end zone, Clemson sent pressure

and forced him to try to get rid of it.

But his pass was nowhere near an eligible receiver, so officials flagged Jurkovec with intentional grounding, handing a safety—and two points—to Clemson.

Even so, BC trailed by just one score and had the chance for an onside kick with a minute left. But Clemson covered it up, dashing the Eagles’ hopes at their first victory over an opponent ranked in the top five since a 14-7 win at No. 4 Notre Dame on Nov. 2, 2002.

Regardless of the outcome, BC showed that it can compete with any team in the country, no matter the ranking.

“Every week, we want to come out here and prove a point, because you know, BC always gets the bottom of the barrel,” Lewis said after the game.

“We always play with a chip on our shoulder ... and show the world that we can play with the top dogs.” n

Without Star QB, Tigers Still Build Dominant Attack FB vs. Clemson from A12 But an illegal shift when BC’s gunner wasn’t set forced Carlson to come out and attempt it again from five yards back.

Again, the ball landed inside the 2-yard line, but a holding call on Max Richardson brought Carlson back out. Fifteen yards back from where he took his first punt, he hit it once more, and if not for a Clemson penalty, the Tigers would have begun the drive at the 20-yard line instead of the original 1-yard line. That drive resulted in Clemson’s go-ahead touchdown, putting the Tigers up 34-28.

Facing the No. 1 team in the country, giving up free yardage is a surefire way to lose a game. BC committed 11 penalties, which accounted for 92 of Clemson’s yards.

The Tigers weren’t much cleaner, though, giving up nine penalties for 82 yards.

Quality Clock Management BC fans are all undoubtedly familiar with the Eagles’ history of poor clock management. But it seems as though such struggles are a thing of the past. The infamous 3-0 loss to Wake Forest in 2015 is a prime example of how far BC has come in terms of clock management.

Unlike in previous years, Hafley has shown an astute awareness of how long any given drive should take based on how much time has elapsed. He said in his postgame press conference that he’s constantly

EAMON LAUGHLIN / HEIGHTS EDITOR

checking the clock to inform how his staff calls the plays, and it paid off on Saturday.

Ahead by 14 late in the second quarter, BC slowly chipped away at Clemson’s defense, resulting in a seven-and-a-half-minute, 15-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. By eating away the clock late in the second, BC forced Clemson to complete its final drive of the half in under a minute, resulting in BC holding the Tigers to just a field goal right before halftime.

BC Can Compete With Anyone, But This Isn’t a Moral Victory Before Saturday, many fans would’ve said that BC had no chance against the top team in the country. Many did, in fact, as nearly every news outlet predicted a double-digit win for the Tigers. But instead of a blowout in favor of the Tigers, BC showed that it can compete with the “top dogs,” as Lewis put it during the postgame press conference. Saturday’s game was a departure from the battering that Eagles fans are used to seeing against Clemson, as BC has scored just seven points in all three of its last meetings with the Tigers.

And even though Clemson seems untouchable at the top of the national rankings for eight straight weeks, BC put up a fight. The Eagles were the first team to lead Clemson in a regular-season game since September of 2019, and at one point, they led by as much as 18. n

Eagles Drop First—and Last—Home Game of the Year

By Maria O’Donnell For The Heights Before its game on Sunday, it had been 28 days since Boston College field hockey had seen the field. Following a hardWake Forest 6 fought 2-1 loss Boston College 2 to No.1 Louisville on Oct. 4, the Eagles had to postpone their next five games after a member of the team tested positive for COVID-19. Due to contact tracing efforts, nine other members of the team were put in quarantine, totaling almost half of the team.

After a few weeks without practice, the Eagles arrived on their home turf with snow piled up on the sides of the field and hopes of proving that they were better than their first game performance.

Wake Forest (2-4) was also recovering from a loss against the reigning NCAA champion North Carolina, and the Demon Deacons came out firing.

After a very rusty first half, the Eagles (0-2) dug themselves a hole that they could not get out of, and the Deacs ended up leaving with a win.

The loss granted BC a No. 7 playoff seed and brings the Eagles’ regular season record to 0-2. Meanwhile, the Deacs end the regular season with a 2-4 record following a previous win over Duke.

The Eagles entered the first quarter with fresh legs but very little gametime experience. In the first three minutes of the game, Wake Forest earned three early corners but failed to get anything past the BC netminder Jonna Kennedy. Nearing the 11th minute of the game, Wake Forest’s Nat Friedman sent a backhanded beauty into the left side of the net, earning her team’s first goal.

Despite the efforts of BC defender

Sky Caron, the ball remained in Eagle territory for the rest of the first quarter.

Entering the second quarter, the Deacs looked better than ever. Kennedy faced shot after shot after having a total of four saves in the entire first half. The Eagles, on the other hand, had a rusty first 30 minutes of the game, getting no shots on net.

With only four minutes remaining in the half, the Deacs put the pressure on the Eagles. After officials called a corner against BC, Wake Forest’s Anne van Hoof sent an unsavable sweeping shot to give her team a two-point lead. Meike Lanckohr and Alexis Grippo got credit for the assists. But the Demon Deacons stayed hungry, and with less than two minutes left, Lanckohr sent a bullet into the Eagles’ net, giving the Deacs a 3-0 lead at halftime.

After a rusty first half, BC entered the third quarter with momentum, putting pressure on Wake Forest goaltender Tori Glaister for the first time all game. Sophomore standout Margo Carlin earned back-to-back corners for her Eagle squad, and on the second one, BC was on the scoreboard. Carlin and Juliette Hijdra were credited with the assist, as Fusine Govaert sent the ball into Glaister’s net, cutting the deficit to two at 3-1.

“I think our best hockey was in the first five minutes of the third quarter,” BC head coach Kelly Doton said after the game. “They just have to learn how to play for 60 minutes like that and not just in spurts.”

Just as things were looking up for the Eagles, a breakaway by Wake Forest’s Abby Carpenter changed the tide of the game.

Freshman Grace Delmotte deflected Carpenter’s shot into the back of the net, giving Wake Forest a 4-1

PHOTO COURTESY OF BC ATHLETICS

After missing five of their seven games due to COVID-19 protocols, the Eagles fell in their return to the field.

lead and crushing the Eagles’ growing momentum.

Only one minute later, the Deacs added another goal as Grace Sambrook sent a blasting shot into the net, making it 5-1. Eleanor Winants was credited for the assist, and the Deacs ended the third quarter on top once again.

Despite being down 5-1, the scrappy BC team did not let up.

After beautifully reading the defense, Elizabeth Warner dove toward the goal and perfectly deflected the ball into Wake Forest’s net, bringing the score to 5-2.

“It was an unbelievable goal,” Doton said. “Her anticipation and tactical knowledge was excellent. …

She read that play really well and knew exactly where it was going in the circle. It was a fantastic goal on the board and really great to see.”

But soon after, the Deacs regained their composure, and Delmotte fired a shot into the back of the BC net, earning her second goal of the game to make it 6-2. The young and determined BC team did not give up, challenging the Deacs until the end and earning themselves more corners and a stroke.

Despite not being able to capitalize on these efforts, BC showed tremendous tenacity and played until the last second.

“I think ever yone collectively played really well for the circumstanc-

es,” Doton said. “Of course it’s not where we were last year on November 1st but I was really proud of their effort. They know the type of field hockey players they can be when we have the right amount of preparation and practice, but they stepped on the field and competed.”

The Eagles are one out of seven NCAA Division I teams playing field hockey in the country right now, and with this unprecedented season, the postseason could really go many different ways.

“Anything can happen in the ACC tournament,” Doton said. “We have a couple days to prepare and go after it, but we are just really fortunate that we get to play another game.” n

Monday, November 2, 2020

SPORTS BOSTON COLLEGE 28

A12

@HeightsSports

CLEMSON 34

Riling the Tigers

JOSH MORGAN / USA TODAY VIA ACC MEDIA

BC saw a 15-point halftime lead over No. 1 Clemson disappear as the Tigers stormed back for a come-from-behind win. Even so, the Eagles fell by just one touchdown, giving the top team in the country quite the Halloween scare.

By Emma Healy

Sports Editor

When Trevor Lawrence tested positive for COVID-19, ruling him out of Saturday ’s 28 game against Boston College Clemson 34 B o s t o n C o l lege football, CJ Lewis said he didn’t believe it at first. But even facing a team without its offensive linchpin— and arguably the best player in all of college football—the Eagles’ game plan didn’t change.

And it almost worked.

A high-flying first half for BC (43, 3-3 Atlantic Coast) gave way to a scoreless second half, and to the Eagles’ second heartbreaker this season, this time by a final score of 34-28 to No. 1 Clemson.

In the first half, the Eagles dominated on both sides of the ball, limited their mistakes, and scored drive after drive. In the second, Clemson (7-0, 6-0) put up a stifling defensive front while exploiting all parts of the field in an offensive scoring barrage.

Regardless of the outcome, BC put up a better fight against Clemson than any team has so far this year—an astounding feat for a developing team under a first-year head coach.

“Nobody gave us a chance to win the game or, probably, to be on the same field as them,” head coach Jeff Hafley said in his postgame press conference. “Our guys came out with confidence. They came out believing, wanting to win, and believing in each other.”

That mentality showed, as BC’s

opening drive was a masterpiece of offensive efficiency. Phil Jurkovec tossed a total of three passes—all complete—and rushed once for 15 yards. In under two minutes, BC found itself on Clemson’s 11-yard line, setting up Jurkovec’s third pass of the night, received by Zay Flowers in the end zone.

Until Saturday, Clemson hadn’t trailed by even a single point all season long. In fact, the Tigers haven’t trailed in a regular season game in over a year, the last time being Sep-

tember of 2019. But after just two minutes of play, the Tigers found themselves behind by seven.

But of course, as the No. 1 team in the country, if the Tigers were going to go down, they were going to go down swinging.

The Tigers responded with an explosive drive of their own, culminating in a 35-yard touchdown pass from D.J. Uiagalelei to Heisman frontrunner Travis Etienne. Etienne entered the

See Comeback, A11

BC Goes Toe-to-Toe With The Nation’s Premier Squad

By Emma Healy Sports Editor

Boston College football gave No. 1 Clemson quite the scare in a Halloween showdown on Saturday. Clemson fans watching the game were watching more of a horror movie than a football game, as unranked BC racked up an 18-point lead in the first half. Clemson (7-0, 6-0 Atlantic Coast), which had previously run away with every game it had played this season, mounted a furious second-half comeback and sent BC (4-3, 3-3) packing with more tricks than treats.

A Glimpse Into the Future With star quarterback Tre vor Lawrence sidelined after a positive

COVID-19 test, D.J. Uiagalelei had to step in for the Tigers. His 342-yard, two-touchdown breakout performance was more than enough to show that he has the chops to take over next year, as Lawrence is projected to go in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft. On the BC side of the ball, Phil Jurkovec still has three years of eligibility left after this season, so next year’s ACC matchup between BC and Clemson will likely look very similar.

That’s not to mention the fact that BC has the ability to return its entire receiving corps as well. CJ Lewis, Zay Flowers, Hunter Long, Jaelen Gill, and Jehlani Galloway—all of Jurkovec’s targets on Saturday—all have at least another year of eligibility, as do many

of Clemson’s top receivers. As a result of the two teams’ youth, Saturday’s matchup is likely a forecast of how the game will look next year. BC, on the rise under first-year head coach Jeff Hafley, showed that it can compete with a top-tier program like Clemson, and Clemson showed that it can still operate without its star under center.

Stopping Etienne on the Ground but Not Through the Air Clemson won’t return all of its offense from Saturday next year, however. Running back Travis Etienne, the Tigers’ second Heisman candidate, is also projected to go in the first round of this year’s NFL Draft. As a result of his offensive firepower, Hafley wrote atop his call sheet “stop number nine,”

referring to the dynamic back. BC did all it could, but Etienne still found his way to elude the Eagles’ defense all game long. Etienne is averaging 86 yards per game, and he finished Saturday’s game just shy of that mark with 84 yards on the ground. But where he was most dominant was in yards after the catch. Entering the game against BC, Etienne was averaging 49 yards per game through the air. But against the Eagles, Etienne found open space constantly, racking up 140 receiving yards, most of which came in yards after the catch. As much as BC looked prepared for him on the ground, the Eagles didn’t seem to anticipate Etienne’s potential as a versatile, pass-catching back.

Penalties Haunt the Eagles Once Again Week after week, BC has struggled to limit its penalties. The Eagles have a habit of giving up major penalties at crucial junctions in the game, and against Clemson, it was no different.

The penalties were most obvious as the third quarter wound down and BC found itself behind for the first time all game. Down 28-26, Clemson forced a stop on third down, and Grant Carlson came in to punt it away. Carlson, who has been a weapon all season long, booted it down inside Clemson’s 1-yard line, pinning the Tigers deep in their own territory to start the drive.

See FB vs. Clemson, A11

VT Shuts Out Eagles in BC’s Seventh Loss of the Year

By Ellie Kominiarek For The Heights On the day after Halloween, with a little bit of snow on the ground at the beginning of the game, rain at the end, and no fans to cheer, Boston College women’s soccer finished its regular season with a 0-3 loss to Virginia Tech at Virginia Tech 3 home on the Boston College 0 Newton soccer field. While the Hokies secured their spot in the ACC Women’s Soccer Championship, the Eagles have struggled to pull out a win all season, ending with a 1-7 record.

Jenna Bike, Sam Smith, Sonia Walk, Samantha Agresti, and Jill Jennings all fired shots on goal but came away fruitless every time. Allie Augur, in goal for the Eagles, saved four shots on goal while letting up three from Virginia Tech. The game was truly lost in the second half, as Emma Steigerwald, Molly Feighan, and Emily Gray each tallied a goal for the Hokies in the second 40 minutes of the game.

Despite the scoring all coming in the second half, Virginia Tech pressured Augur early. Between the fourth and the fifth minute, Steigerwald and Sydney Ash both fired at Augur, but Augur saved the former’s kick, and the latter’s went wide.

BC first generated some pressure in the 12th minute, when a BC throw-in resulted in Jennings firing on goal, which the Hokies blocked.

Much of the first half went back and forth, and after a Virginia Tech goal in the 14th minute, the game became very back and forth. Smith eventually found the ball at her feet and subsequently missed her first of her three shots on the night. She went to goal again in the 28th minute, once again to no avail.

Despite pressure from Steigerwald, Gray, and Karlie Johnson, Augur saved two near-goals in the first half.

Augur and Virginia Tech’s netminder Alia Skinner remained strong in the first half, sending the two teams into halftime without a point on the board.

The Eagles emerged from the locker room with a renewed offensive attack, and shortly after halftime, Agrestri had a chance in the box off a corner kick, but her shot went wide.

In the 56th minute, Bike—named ACC Co-Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 27—fired a shot from the top of the goal box, and a diving Skinner got in front of the ball to keep the score knotted at zero.

The game soon got out of hand for the Eagles, as within a minute and a half, Virginia Tech’s Tori Powell took two shots on Augur. Soon after, a goal kick from BC resulted in Steigerwald’s goal, opening the scoring for the Hokies.

In a fast-paced transition after Walk missed a shot, Virginia Tech took the ball down the field in the 65th minute, and Augur was able to save a shot from Powell. In the 66th minute, though, she failed to block Gray’s shot, putting the Hokies up by two.

Shortly after a throw-in by the Eagles in the 77th minute, Virginia

COURTESY OF BC ATHLETICS

BC’s Jenna Bike battles a Virginia Tech defender in the Eagles’ 3-0 loss to the Hokies.

Tech’s Allyson Brown regained possession of the ball and shot, missing high.

Feighan, subbed in at the 61st minute, secured the win for Virginia Tech with the final goal of the game just 12 minutes later.

This shortened season has not been a walk in the park for the

Eagles, as they were outscored by their opponents 15 to eight. The Eagles’ only win this season came at Syracuse, with a final score of 3-1 over the Orange. The Eagles, ranked No. 11 out of 13 teams in the ACC, have matched up against top-ranked North Carolina, Louisville, Pitt, Duke, Syracuse, and Virginia. n